Community honours woman after alleged murder

7 days ago

Robby West,in Thorpe St Andrewand

Louise Parry

The funeral of Tania Williams, who died in January, is taking place on Saturday

Facebook Tania Williams is inside looking to the camera. She has wavy blue hair and make-up on, including bright red lipstick and black mascara. She is wearing a dark blue dress. — The funeral of Tania Williams, who died in January, is taking place on Saturday

A community gathered together to honour a "colourful" and "kind" mother of four, who was found fatally injured in the street.

Tania Williams, 49, died in Thorpe St Andrew, near Norwich, on 17 January.

Her ex-partner, 61-year-old Raymond Williams, pleaded not guilty to her murder on Friday at Norwich Crown Court.

The funeral of Tania, who was described as a well-known member of her church, was held earlier.

More than 200 people gathered inside the Thorpe St Andrew Parish Church for the service.

A lilac coffin was wheeled into the church and many mourners wore brightly coloured clothes, mainly purples and reds.

A handful of people remained on the street to pay their respects.

Flowers spelling out Mum were also taken into the church.

The church was full for the service with some mourners standing outside to pay their respects

Jenny Kirk/BBC A funeral cortege comes down a street. Some people stand on the pavement wearing black. A funeral director wearing a top hat leads walks in front of a black hearse. — The church was full for the service with some mourners standing outside to pay their respects

In a tribute prior to the funeral her family said she was "a woman of great faith - believing in Christ - she was also a woman who was passionate about her four children".

They added: "Tania was undoubtedly beautiful, she was honest but mostly was always giving to others, the list about her bubbly personality truly goes on."

Reverend James Stewart says his church has been "deeply affected" by Tania's death

Robby West/BBC James Stewart, standing inside his church. He wears the black shirt and jacket and white dog collar. There are wooden pews behind him — Reverend James Stewart says his church has been "deeply affected" by Tania's death

Rector of Thorpe St Andrew Church, Reverend James Stewart,said before the service that Tania "very much became part of our church community" and the news of her death was "very, very devastating".

He said: "The best way of dealing with it is to think of the good things of Tania, to remember all the wonderful things that she achieved in her life."

Stewart described her as "uniquely colourful".

"You will have seen photographs of her with wonderfully bright turquoise hair, which she took great pride in," he said.

"But her personality was colourful as well. She was full of love and kindness for everybody that she met.

"She loved to chat to people all around the community and was very good at bringing other people to faith."

Tania's family said her children wanted to "keep their memories of her alive by honouring her passions"

Family via Norfolk Police A head and chest image of Tania Williams. She is wearing green short-sleeved dress and is resting is touching her chin with her right hand. She has dark, dyed hair, sunglasses and tattoos on her upper arms and on the right of her chest. She appears to be posing outside the door of a house. — Tania's family said her children wanted to "keep their memories of her alive by honouring her passions"

Stewart said Tania was "a community person" who had been involved in "all sorts of fundraising".

One example of this was her voluntary work at an Oxfam charity shop over six years.

Shop manager Ross Hagan said Tania "always had a lot of time for people - she was an excellent volunteer".

"She was a very genuine person. She was very friendly, and colourful," he said.

"She was dressed in very loud, distinctive clothing and was always changing the colour of her hair.

"She was very funny, she was very blunt, sometimes hilariously so. She would talk to anyone and she made friends very quickly."

Tania was "an excellent volunteer" at the Oxfam charity shop, manager Ross Hagan said

Robby West/BBC The street with Oxfam on the left side - it is a large shop with six big glass panels at the front and the green Oxfam sign. You can see shelves and tables with cards, books and other items on. — Tania was "an excellent volunteer" at the Oxfam charity shop, manager Ross Hagan said

He said there was "a lot of shock, a lot of pain, a lot of anger" at the news of her death.

Her family added: "Even though her life was cut short; she still lived a full life - leaving many beautiful memories with her children and family behind.

"Her children want to keep their memories of her alive by honouring her passions and fulfil any dreams she didn't get to do here on earth."

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