A heartbroken family are ‘devastated’ after three-year-old Ianto Jenkins was killed riding his bike on the family farm. Pictured: Little Ianto Jenkins with his father Guto Sior Jenkins
A grieving father has received online abuse from an animal rights fanatic after he accidentally killed his young son by hitting him with his truck on the family farm.
Devastated Guto Jenkins, 31, was already reeling after hitting little Ianto Jenkins, aged just three, when he received the cruel online message.
The online troll wrote: ‘If you hadn’t had such an evil industry perhaps your son would still be here!’
Mr Jenkins runs a dairy farm in the rural village of Efailwen near Clynderwen, Pembrokeshire, which was the scene of the tragic accident last Tuesday evening (August 3).
Police were called but the boy, who was riding his bike at the time of the crash, died at the scene.
The hateful message, sent to his father following news of the incident, added: ‘You run a dairy farm! One of the cruelest industries out there!
‘Millions of cows dying not just for their meat but for their milk too (which we don’t need).’
A heartbroken family are ‘devastated’ after three-year-old Ianto Jenkins was killed riding his bike on the family farm. Pictured: Little Ianto Jenkins with his father Guto Sior Jenkins
The heartless missive came from an account under the name Simon Wilson, and was revealed by Conservative Welsh Assembly member Sam Kurtz, who was left ‘angered beyond belief’ by the online abuse.
Mr Kurtz, who represents Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, said the death of Ianto had ‘hurt this close knit community deeply’, describing it as a ‘tragic event in West Wales.’
He said: ‘Yet some find sending the following message acceptable? This has angered me beyond belief.
‘My thoughts, and all those of this community in West Wales, are with the family during this incredibly difficult time.’
Fellow Member of the Welsh Senedd Rhys ab Owen said the abuse was ‘despicable’ and ‘difficult to understand’.
Ianto’s mother Chloe has told how the boy loved going out in the fields with his father at the family dairy farm.
She said: ‘Ianto was my blue-eyed boy, he was inspiration to life, he was a kind little boy who was always smiling and laughing.
‘He loved being out on the farm and going on the tractor with his daddy.
‘Ianto and I had a very strong bond, he was “Mummy’s little boy” and was always by my side everywhere we went, now that’s been taken from me.
‘No parent should lose a child and I would like people to respect our wishes, giving us space at this very difficult, heartbreaking time.’
His father runs the dairy farm – and was described as devastated at the tragedy on Tuesday night.
The community has rallied around the family of Ianto Jenkins after he was killed by a vehicle
Mr Jenkins’ mother Meinir, 61, said: ‘No one is to blame. Ianto was playing on his new bike in the back yard and my son just didn’t know he was there.
‘It is just heartbreaking. Poor Guto, I don’t know how he’s going to live with this. He is completely devastated.’
Mr Jenkins runs a topsoil business from the 270-acre farm – and uses large pick up trucks to shift the earth.
Meinir added: ‘He (Ianto) too wanted to be a farmer when he grew up, no doubt about that.’
An investigation has been launched and the Health and Safety Executive informed but no-one else was injured.
The boy’s family is being supported by specialist officers and an inquest is set to be opened in due course by Pembrokershire Coroner Paul Bennett.
The family farm has been run by Guto’s parents for decades.
A police spokesperson said: ‘Dyfed-Powys Police was alerted to a collision involving a vehicle and a child at a private property in the Clynderwen area at approximately 7pm on Tuesday, August 3.
‘Sadly, a three-year-old boy died at the scene.
‘An investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident is ongoing and the family is being supported by specialist officers.
‘The Health and Safety Executive and HM Coroner have been informed. Nobody else was injured.’
Minister and county councillor Huw George previously said the community is pulling together after the tragic death.
He said: ‘One point of this community is that it’s strong, it’s close.
‘People will be there and sense when help is needed and if people ask for help, they will get it, because how do you begin to explain and begin to say something which means anything at a time like this.’
Farmer and shop owner Carwyn James said everyone in the close-knit community was deeply affected by the news.
He said: ‘People will fail to imagine the pain this poor family are going through at the moment.
‘It’s an amazing place to raise children on a farm, but with it there are dangers. It’s just so terribly sad.’
Source: dailymail.co.uk
