Youngster’s ashes scattered in lake next to prison holding grieving father, dad visits sacred stretch of water twice a month after release

A father in China who was jailed for stealing to cover the cost of his son’s cancer treatment was still behind bars when the boy died.

In place of a normal farewell, to fulfil the boy’s wishes, his ashes were scattered in a lake near the prison where he is being held.

Yu Haibo, 29, grew up in a farming family in China’s northeastern Jilin province.

After leaving school in his teens, he worked as a chef and welder and married his girlfriend, Zhang Mingyu before turning 20.