A BENCH and plaque honouring the memory of murdered teenager Jayden Parkinson will be unveiled next month.

Ben Blakeley was jailed for a minimum of 20 years for strangling the 17-year-old in open countryside south of Didcot after she met him to say she was pregnant with his child.

He then buried her body in the grave of his uncle Alan Kennedy in the cemetery of All Saint’s Church in Didcot.

A bench and plaque honouring her is to be installed in the same churchyard, allowing a place for quiet contemplation and also to acknowledge the support and help of the church following the tragedy.

The teenager’s mum Samantha Shrewsbury hopes that the bench will be a place for people to remember her daughter.

She said: “They can sit there on the bench, remember her if they want to or contemplate.

“The bench is there to say thank you to everyone who treated my daughter with respect after she had not been treated with respect.”

Blakeley was arrested in December 2013 following a massive search for Jayden. Her body was found in the grave two days after Blakeley was charged with her murder.

He was found guilty of murder after a five-week trial in June last year, and jailed for a minimum of 20 years, while his brother Jake was imprisoned for three years for perverting the course of justice.

Ms Shrewsbury hopes that the bench, which will be unveiled on Saturday, August 8, will be a fitting apology to the church for the “sacrilege” Blakeley committed by opening a grave.

The 48-year-old said: “I feel good because it is something for the church.

“What he did was sacrilege. I’m not religious but I believe for the people that have faith that was a really bad thing to do. It upset them and I hope that this is a little thing for them.”

The bench will be dedicated by Reverend Karen Beck, who said it was important to have memorial to Jayden in the churchyard.

She said: “I think a bench is appropriate because Jayden only resided in our churchyard a while, but the bench is a place people can reside for a while in our churchyard, remember her, and hopefully find peace.”

A memorial garden dedicated to Jayden was opened off Foxhill Road, near the church, in April.

The Forget Me Not garden was designed to echo Jayden’s interests and hobbies. The fence is painted her favourite colour purple and her favourite plant – lavender – will nestle around the memorial headstone, which will be the main centrepiece.

Jayden’s friend Bethany Ray came up with the idea and Ms Shrewsbury burst into tears when she first saw it.