Lucy McHugh: Funeral held for stabbed 13-year-old

Friends and family have gathered in Southampton to pay tribute to murdered schoolgirl Lucy McHugh.

Loved ones of the 13-year-old were dressed in blue and green - Lucy's favourite colours - as her body was led to Hollybrook Cemetery in a horse-drawn procession.

Stacey White, Lucy's mother, remembered her as a "real individual, a little hurricane of smiles and lip gloss".

Lucy's body was found in woods on 26 July, nearly two miles from her home.

Friends and family of Lucy McHugh carried her coffin into the chapel

More than 250 people, many from the local community, attended the ceremony at the chapel, less than a mile from where the schoolgirl's body had been found.

Seats inside the chapel were reserved for close family and friends, however, the service was broadcast to the community who waited outside the chapel.

In her eulogy, Lucy's mother described her daughter as someone who "loved, football, cooking and gymnastics".

Mrs White wrote on Facebook ahead of the funeral, that since her daughter's disappearance on 25 July her life had been a "nightmare".

She also said she hoped for justice to be served for her "precious baby girl".

Mourners had been encouraged to wear blue and green, Lucy's favourite colours

A friend of Lucy's, Megan Wheeler Osman, 15, said although the service was "very difficult and emotional", it was "beautiful", and said "everything about Lucy".

"There were a few school friends who were crying their eyes out but we were hugging each other," she said.

"Everyone was devastated but there were a lot of people here."

Lucy McHugh's coffin was brought to Hollybrook Cemetery in a horse-drawn procession

The Rev Sean Blackman, who led the service, said it was "very much about Lucy".

He said: "I think the family wanted something poignant.

"There was music that was important to them which worked very well".

Lucy McHugh's body was found on 26 July - the schoolgirl went missing a day before

Hampshire police have undertaken a massive operation since Lucy's body was discovered, with officers handing out leaflets in Southampton to "jog people's memory" about the hours leading up to her death.

A 24-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murder and sexual activity with a child has been bailed.

The same man appeared in court on 31 July charged with withholding information relating to the case by allegedly failing to disclose his Facebook password to police.