A grieving mother has said money she had been saving for a memorial to her son has gone missing from her home. Kim, 39, had been putting aside cash for a tribute to Ryan-Liam Morgan, who died when the van his father was driving crashed into a tree.
Daniel Burba suffered a cocaine-induced seizure at the wheel, causing the crash on the M6 on April 20 2025. The 14-year-old had tried to grab the steering wheel in the moments before impact. A court later heard the schoolboy had "died in terror". Burba, who only held a provisional licence, was jailed for 10 years in August 2025.
Money missing from memory box
Kim said she found the memory box where she stored the money had been opened two weeks ago, and £600 was missing. She described her devastation at discovering the box had been disturbed.
"What breaks my heart is that someone has touched all the other precious things in the memory box; his favourite football shirt, the handprints the nurses did for us after he died, the baby mementoes. I feel like everything is tainted," she said. "I want the money back, but I also want to know who would be capable of such a horrible and cruel thing."
Son's life remembered
Kim and Daniel Burba met at a party in Lancaster in 2009 and split in 2014, when Ryan was four. They also had two other children, Summer, 14, and Primrose, 11. Kim described Ryan as a typical little boy who loved football and was a big Liverpool FC fan.
"He liked cars, his favourites were BMWs. He was a great dancer, he won competitions for street dance. He was very affectionate, he loved a cuddle and was protective and gentle with his little sisters," she said.
In early 2020, Ryan went to stay with his father and remained with him through the covid lockdown. When Ryan turned 14 in early 2025, Kim began to hope he might return home. However, on Easter Sunday afternoon, she learned her son had been killed.
Crash details and sentencing
Burba appeared before Preston Crown Court charged with causing death by dangerous driving, death by driving a vehicle while unlicensed, death by driving a vehicle whilst uninsured and drug driving. The court heard that weeks before the collision, Burba had been told he was not allowed to drive because of epilepsy, a condition made worse by his use of illegal drugs.
At the time of the crash, he was found to be four times over the legal limit for cocaine and its derivative benzoylecgonine, and also had amphetamine in his system. Burba had suffered an epileptic fit moments before the collision, aggravated by his use of cocaine. As well as being jailed, he was banned from driving for 14 years and five months and told he must take an extended re-test. Jailing Burba, Judge Robert Altham told him he had made a "deliberate decision" to drive and "disregarded the lives of others".
Kim said: "There were so many reasons he should not have been driving that day, but he ignored them all. It breaks my heart to think how frightened Ryan must have been in the crash. I wish so much I could have told him I loved him; I hope he knew how much I missed him every day. As Ryan's dad, Daniel should have looked after him, and instead, he took his life. I can never forgive that."
Kim has been campaigning for Ryan's Law, which would ensure killer drivers are never allowed behind the wheel again. She explained she had been saving for a memorial, putting aside a little each week, mainly in £10 and £20 notes. "Two weeks ago, I noticed the box has been moved and the money was gone. I was heartbroken. I just want to know who it was and why they would do such a thing."
A spokesperson for Cumbria Police confirmed they have received a complaint regarding the missing money.
