The petitioners sought a faculty to introduce a memorial plaque to the deceased, a flight lieutenant who was killed on active service in Iraq on 22 March 2003. The plaque was to be attached to the interior wall of St Helen’s Church, Etwall, a Grade I listed building. The deceased had no link with the parish beyond the fact that, at the time of the petition, his parents lived there. The Diocesan Advisory Committee recommended the work for approval by the consistory court, and the deceased’s parents supported the petition.

The Chancellor dismissed the petition. There must be a real link between the service person and the memorial location if there is not to be an excessive proliferation of memorials. The deceased had no link to Etwall. In addition, he was already commemorated appropriately in three locations: where he grew up, where he was based at the time of his death, and at the National Memorial Arboretum.