POLICE IN AUSTRALIA say they have had to take the unprecedented move of relocating floral tributes left to Jill Meagher, due to the “overwhelming number” of flowers left on the road where she was last seen.
Hundreds of wreathes were left on Sydney Road by wellwishers yesterday, when tens of thousands of people walked the length of Sydney Road – the street in the suburb of Brunswick from which she disappeared on her walk home nine days ago.
TV footage broadcast of yesterday’s march showed Jill’s mother Edith McKeon visiting the bridal shop from where CCTV footage showing her last known movements, outside of which dozens of floral tributes had been laid to the 29-year-old Louth woman.
This morning Victoria Police said the sheer volume of tributes had forced them to move the flowers away – but assured wellwishers that the flowers had not been destroyed.
“It has been necessary to move them to avoid them obstructing the local area,” police said in an advisory issued this morning.
“Police have consulted with the family and moved them to a location of their choice. They have not been destroyed and all the cards have been collected and provided to Jill’s family,” the force said in a statement.
Police added that a local Baptist church close to the spot where Jill was last seen had agreed to host any further floral tributes on her family’s behalf.
41-year-old Adrian Bayley has been charged with Meagher’s rape and murder, and will appear in court in connection on those charges in January.
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