The funeral of a Heckmondwike toddler who died after suffering numerous injuries has been held in Leeds.

The family and friends of 21-month-old Joshua Duck packed into St Anne's Cathedral in Leeds to celebrate his life.

Little Joshua died in hospital on April 7 after he was rushed from his home in Hirst Avenue, Heckmondwike, by ambulance.

Yesterday, the hearse - bearing Joshua's tiny white coffin with gold handles - slowly pulled up outside the cathedral.

Around 60 mourners filed into the building and silently took their places.

Two wreaths sat on Joshua's tiny casket but most of the floral tributes remained in the funeral car, to be taken later to Lawnswood Cemetery where Joshua was laid to rest.

The mourners heard readings from the Bible and the Priest - Father Eamonn - spoke of Joshua's short but happy life.

He said he could not explain why tragedies like this happened.

"When the life of a child ends prematurely and suddenly, we are inclined to speak as if everything that was important about that child lay in their future - a future which will now never be. This is a mistake," he said.

"While it is true that Joshua's life had scarcely started, still we are tempted to say 'I'd love to know what the future held for him - what would he have become? Would he have grown tall and strong? Had children of his own?

"Children can pack an awful lot of living into a single day. One moment in the life of a child is like a day in ours."

He urged people to give thanks for the time they had had with Joshua.

Following the service for the toddler whom his grandmother Helen described as "the little man with his gorgeous brown eyes," mourners attended a funeral tea at the Lawnswood Arms. Joshua's grandmother Helen Andrews said it was a relief to be able to bury her grandson at last and she was glad that her daughter Aisling would have somewhere to visit and pray.

"I still can't believe this has happened," she said, "It is just so, so sad. It's an awful day to have to face, and I don't understand it at all."

An inquest which opened last week into Joshua's death was adjourned.

l Matthew Frank Hellewell, 26, of Heckmondwike, is to appear at Leeds Crown Court in September, to face charges of murder, grievous bodily harm and cruelty to a child.