Legacy Independent Funeral Directors: Mortuary abuse inquiry following ‘disturbing’ Yorkshire funeral directors allegations

An inquiry chairman investigating how dead people are looked after around the country in the wake of necrophiliac killer David Fuller’s mortuary abuse has said his review is following the “disturbing” allegations made against a funeral directors in Hull.
By Anahita Hossein-Pour, PA
Published 27th Mar 2024, 16:21 BST

The independent inquiry into Fuller’s crimes and issues raised by them is reviewing how deceased people are looked after in settings including private mortuaries, private ambulances and the funeral sector. Legacy Independent Funeral Directors has been under investigation after officers recovered bodies, as well as suspected human ashes, at its site on Hessle Road in Hull.

Humberside Police said detectives had been working “around the clock” since concerns were raised on March 8 “about the storage and management processes relating to care of the deceased at the funeral directors”. On Wednesday, the David Fuller inquiry published recordings of meetings with funeral directors to help the public understand their work.

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Sir Jonathan Michael, the chair of the inquiry, also addressed another alleged incident where a man was charged with a sexual offence and trespass with intent to commit a sexual offence against a deceased adult in Grimsby, according to the Grimsby Telegraph.

Police outside the Hessle Road branch of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull. Photo credit: Dave Higgens/PA WirePolice outside the Hessle Road branch of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull. Photo credit: Dave Higgens/PA Wire
Police outside the Hessle Road branch of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull. Photo credit: Dave Higgens/PA Wire

Sir Jonathan said: “I am of course aware of the deeply disturbing news of the allegations concerning Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull, and allegations regarding sexual offences in a hospital mortuary, and other cases.

“My thoughts are with all those affected by what has happened. The inquiry cannot investigate specific incidents and is mindful that police investigations and judicial proceedings are continuing. The inquiry will continue to follow developments in both cases closely.”

He added that the inquiry, which launched the second phase of its review in July last year, was currently looking at whether practices and procedures in hospital and non-hospital settings in England where deceased people were kept were enough to safeguard their dignity and security.

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The Government first launched the independent inquiry in 2021 after Fuller sexually abused the bodies of at least 101 women and girls aged between nine and 100 while employed at the now-closed Kent and Sussex Hospital and the Tunbridge Wells Hospital, in Pembury, between 2005 and 2020.

The first phase of the inquiry, looking at his employer, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, found the former maintenance worker was able to offend without being caught due to “serious failings” at the hospitals he worked at.