Family and friends gather to celebrate life of Mike Allen

LOVE and laughter were the themes of the day as the friends and family of Bodmin stabbing victim Michael Riddiough-Allen came together to celebrate his life on Friday, June 16.

Officiated by family friend and Bodmin vicar, Rev Elaine Munday, St Petroc’s Church was a sea of colour and packed with people wishing to celebrate the life of Mike.

It started with an arrival in style with Mike’s fellow motoring enthusiasts paying homage to their friend, with the traditional funeral convoy expanded significantly by virtue of a long queue of cars following the hearse to the church, signalling their arrival with loud revs of the engine and blasts of the horn. Among the procession was the shell of a vehicle Mike had been working on prior to his death, carried on a trailer.

The traditional mournful entry was then replaced with loud, rapturous applause from those in attendance as Mike’s coffin was carried to its place by teammates from Bodmin RFC who then stood together at the side of the church for the duration of the service.

The packed church and those watching online bore witness to a service where the love and stories of the man they called a son and brother took centre stage. Alicia Puckey, Mike’s sister began the three eulogies and tributes to Mike that interspersed hymns and moments of reflection set to music and a slide show of photographs with a rendition of ‘Sunday Morning’ by Maroon 5.

This was followed by a eulogy by Mike’s father, Kevin Allen, who took the opportunity to both share his own thoughts and memories of his son in addition to talking about his plans for Mike’s legacy in the form of the MIKES Trust, which is being set up to campaign and raise awareness about rural knife crime.

Kevin said in his eulogy: “I’ve seen eulogies before, they are normally a list, born here, schooled there, married them, had kids, worked faithfully for 35 years etc, etc. Usually designed to inform an audience at the end of a long life. But that is not the case here, we all lived with Michael through most of his life, he was all about the present not the past.

“Often at these times great achievements are wheeled out, but like me, Michael was not made for great things. What Michael was made for was, hard work, fun, friendship, laughter, smiles and loyalty.

“When talking about what Michael was, I have to admit I feel a bit of a fraud. For me, work colleagues and the family we had a different Mike. Phil put it best, “cantankerous and exasperating, but not a bad bone in his body.” We also saw all the fun and laughter of Michael, so often. But there was so much more to him than we realised. The avalanche of love we have felt from you, his friends, the stories of the time spent, energy he gave, kind words spoken, the number of people whose lives he touched makes me feel I really didn’t know him that well. Even those who knew him really well, have been surprised. Both Phil and Dan have both mentioned that, when talking to people, they have found out things that Mike had done for others, time given so effortlessly. Both of them said to me ‘when did he find time!’ Because even they were surprised by how much he gave of himself.

“So time and again, we have received messages that tell of not only great loss, but of fun, smiles, generosity of spirit and time; of love. Reading all the messages, hearing all the stories, feeling all the affection and seeing all the loss, has led me to know more about my son, what and who he was, what he meant to people. So, I can say with some confidence, Michael was not a great man, he was something greater, something incredibly valuable, something better, something more rare, he was a good man!

“I hope one day someone can say that with conviction about me. He achieved what seems to evade us in our busy lives, he found time to not only be fun company and a great laugh, but also a good and true friend to so many, and for a privileged few, a best friend. For me he was a best friend, the best of sons, and also my best man.

“For us the world is a poorer place, ‘just a bit less’, because of the loss of Michael, and for a while it will be. For some of us it may never be right. But we can make the world better and we can help heal each others wounds.”

He added: “Goodnight Michael, sleep well, love you son.”

Later, Mike’s older sister, Rebecca Dustan shared memories of her and Mike, including anecdotes of how as a child, he wanted to be a scientist.

She said during the tribute: “When he was really little he dreamed of being a mad scientist. His favourite experiment was to tie shopping bags to his teddies and drop them off the balcony. He was trying to work out how many shopping bags he would need to attach to himself to parachute down safely. Fortunately, gravity always won.

“The “stupid things with vehicles” stage started very early. How fast can he go if he finds a massive hill and sits on his skateboard? What will happen if he rides his bike off the keyhouse into the river? How high can he fly my grandma’s Suzuki Swift? As we know he never grew out of the “stupid things with vehicles stage” but the more recent stories would horrify our grandparents, so we’ll save those for later.”

After the service, which concluded with an organ rendition of “Swing Low, Swing Chariot”, the congregation departed; with the family and some friends venturing to a private committal service at Bodmin Crematorium, the next gathering place was the celebration held at Bodmin Rugby Club.

A large group of rugby players in attendance, as well as some others, then took to the rugby pitch for a special a match. In a moment of symbolism, the ball was passed to Mike’s elder sister, Rebecca for the first try.

The energy and atmosphere continued throughout the day as the family and friends of Michael Riddiough-Allen gave him “the send off he would have truly loved to be part of”.