Get you up to speed: Mum heartbroken after son’s roadside memorial trashed three times | News UK
Joanne O’Keefe is raising funds for a burial plot for her son, Alfie O’Keefe, after his roadside memorial in North Finchley, London, was repeatedly destroyed. Alfie, 16, was killed in a hit-and-run in November 2016 when learner driver Ali Bahramzadeh crashed into his moped.
Joanne O’Keefe has faced multiple incidents of vandalism at her son’s memorial, which has been destroyed each year since 2023. She is currently seeking £2,000 to secure a burial plot and headstone for Alfie O’Keefe, as she believes a cemetery would provide a more protected space for his remembrance.
Joanne O’Keefe is raising £2,000 to purchase a burial plot and headstone for her son Alfie, whose roadside memorial has been repeatedly destroyed over the past three years. She has stated, “I feel like it’s time for Alfie to be put somewhere to rest, where no-one can touch it,” reflecting her frustration and grief as she seeks to ensure a permanent resting place for him.
What remains unclear — It is not known how the memorial’s destruction will impact Joanne O’Keefe’s fundraising efforts for a burial plot.
Mother seeks funds for burial plot after son’s roadside memorial is damaged repeatedly
A mother is trying to raise £2,000 so she can buy her teenage son a burial plot after his roadside memorial was repeatedly destroyed.
Alfie O’Keefe, 16, was killed in a hit-and-run in November 2016 when learner driver Ali Bahramzadeh crashed into his moped.
Bahramzadeh, who was driving his mum’s car without permission and was both unlicenced then uninsured, didn’t give way to the teenager as he entered a mini roundabout on Buxted Road, in North Finchley, London,
He then failed to stop and collided with Alfie’s vehicle.
Bahramzadeh was jailed in 2018 for one year and banned from driving for two and a half years after his release.
Since Alfie’s death, his mum – Joanne O’Keefe, 49 – has maintained a memorial on the road at the site of the collision.
Every year, she puts the memorial up on November 17 – the anniversary of his death – and takes it down on his birthday, December 22.
Homeowners in the area had for years allowed her to keep a memorial on their fence.
But after they sold their house, she had to present the memorial in different spots, including a nearby bollard.
And in 2023, 2024, and 2025, the memorial was destroyed.
Last year, red roses and fairy lights that had been left there were taken from the roadside, and in 2024, Alfie’s picture was taken.
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Meanwhile, in 2023, the memorial was removed from the outside of a fence and placed onto a utility box, and flowers were thrown to the ground.
She said: ‘You can see it’s a memorial, clearly.
‘Why would you take something that’s so sacred to someone else? I don’t understand; I could never understand it.’
Joanne has been left devastated by the destruction and she is now raising money for a proper headstone for her son.
She is hoping to raise £2,000 to buy him a plot at a cemetery, plus the headstone, something she says she is unable to fund herself.
Joanne, who keeps Alfie’s ashes in a cupboard in her house, said: ‘I never, ever, thought I’d make the decision for Alfie to go into the cemetery, never.
‘My thing was he would stay home, when I pass we would go together.
‘I feel like it’s time for Alfie to be put somewhere to rest, where no-one can touch it.
‘It’s sacred, no-one can go near him, no-one can damage him any more.’
She added: ‘I don’t know how much more my heart can take.’