“It has been pretty sad,” Mr [Paul Shillingsworth] said. “I can’t explain it. I just lost my son. I am never going to see him again.”

Before becoming too tearful to speak, Mr Shillingsworth described [Dean] as “like all other kids, beautiful”. He also thanked his family, “all the brothers”, Corrective Services and “everyone in NSW for their support”.

“The response has been overwhelming,” Mr [Jason Robbins] said. “It is going to be a big event.”

THE father of toddler Dean Shillingsworth yesterday made his first visit to the pond in southwestern Sydney where the body of his two-year-old son was found in a suitcase last week.

Paul Shillingsworth, 29, was released on parole from Junee prison in southern NSW at 10am yesterday and arrived at the pond at about 3pm.

After walking to the water’s edge to pay his respects, he was quickly surrounded by about 30 close relatives and friends.

Among the crowd were his mother, Ann Coffey, and her partner, Edmund Caban, who had been caring for Dean until the middle of the year when his mother did not return the child after a contact visit.

Dean’s mother, Rachel Pfitzner, was arrested on Saturday and charged with her son’s murder.

“It has been pretty sad,” Mr Shillingsworth said. “I can’t explain it. I just lost my son. I am never going to see him again.”

Before becoming too tearful to speak, Mr Shillingsworth described Dean as “like all other kids, beautiful”. He also thanked his family, “all the brothers”, Corrective Services and “everyone in NSW for their support”.

It was also announced yesterday that Dean’s funeral would be held on November 1, in his father’s home town of Brewarrina, in northwestern NSW.

The post-mortem investigation on Dean’s body, carried out at the Westmead Hospital morgue in western Sydney, was completed yesterday and his body released for collection by the family.

Residents of the Sydney suburb of Ambarvale last night lit candles beside the pond, where a memorial service for Dean will be held tomorrow.

The man organising the event, resident Jason Robbins, said they were expecting more than 1000 people to attend the ceremony and at least three bus-loads of relatives were thought to be coming from across NSW.

He said 500 balloons would be released, some in the colours of the Aboriginal flag mixed with white balloons with Dean’s name printed on them.

Hundreds of floating candles are also to be released on the lake.

“The response has been overwhelming,” Mr Robbins said. “It is going to be a big event.”

Mr Robbins said there had been a massive response from the community and particularly among the area’s children.

Separately, NSW Community Services Minister Kevin Greene was again forced to defend his department, which has been under fire over the fact it received warnings about Dean’s family since February last year.

The Australian yesterday revealed that the NSW Ombudsman’s report, to be released tomorrow, will show that more than 100 children died in the state despite they or their family having been reported to DOCS in the three years before their deaths.

“One hundred deaths, as with one death, the death of any child, is very serious and concerning,” Mr Greene said.

Angela Shanahan — Page 14