Daughters win battle to exhume mother’s body at Chatham Cemetery
06:00, 26 April 2019
updated: 07:35, 26 April 2019
A grief-stricken daughter has won her lengthy battle to have her mother’s body exhumed after what she described as “catastrophic” errors by a funeral director.
Co-op Funeralcare has admitted to Allison Wright that its mortuary records for grandmother Pamela Fuller were “inconsistent” following her death in September 2017.
Senior managers from the company visited her at her Chatham home last Thursday and apologised.
Scroll down to watch the women discuss the exhumation
They have agreed to pay the £4,000-plus to have the body dug up from the Maidstone Road cemetery in Chatham.
The issue first came to light in January when the two sisters revealed concerns over their mum's burial.
Mrs Wright, 52, and her twin sister Frances Dicketts, also from Chatham, are questioning whether items she wanted placed in her coffin, including two of her favourite brooches, were put there.
She also wants proof her mum was dressed in clothing selected by the family, and by a qualified person.
She said: “I have discussed it with my sister.
"It should never have come to this and taken so long.We have no choice but to go through with the exhumation.”
The hour-long visit to Mrs Wright’s home at The Covert was prompted after the sisters staged a protest outside the Co-op’s Gravesend branch on Friday, April 12.
The same day, Mrs Wright received a letter from Sharon Lindsey, regional operations manager, asking to meet her.
She wrote: “I am very sorry that you still have concerns around the mortuary records regarding the movements of your late mother.
“In order for us to try and get a resolution to this I would like to arrange a meeting with you, where we can provide you with all of the information we have.”
Ms Lindsey was accompanied by Ian Mason, another regional manager.
Suspicions arose after a lengthy tribunal found the Walderslade branch did not comply with their wishes to have the 83-year-old mother of seven embalmed.
Days before the funeral, the women were due to say their final farewells but were told the corpse was too decomposed to view.
They are also distressed that Mrs Fuller’s body was transferred to four different parlours following her death from cancer at a care home in Gillingham.
An inquiry by an independent conciliation company failed to give Mrs Wright the answers she felt she needed for closure.
She then took it on to the next stage of arbitration which found the Co-op’s documentation “sometimes contradictory or incomplete” and “contradictions in paperwork somewhat disturbing”.
It ruled staff failed to carry out Mrs Wright’s request for embalming which was a breach of contract.
However, it added “on the balance of probability” all requested items were placed in the coffin and the “deceased was appropriately dressed by a competent person”.
After the findings, the Co-op, which is a member of the National Association of Funeral Directors, offered £1,250 for a headstone.
Director of funerals David Collingwood said: “We’re sorry Mrs Wright remains unhappy following her late mother’s funeral.
“We recently met with Mrs Wright to discuss possible next steps and are awaiting a decision on how she would like to proceed.”
The two managers met with Mrs Wright at her home to discuss her concerns again and understand how they could provide her with closure and reassurance.
While they offered signed written statements from both the funeral director and funeral arranger confirming all items had been placed as requested at the final closure of Mrs Fuller’s coffin on the day of the funeral, it was felt that was not enough to reassure Mrs Wright and the only way to do that was to exhume her mother’s body.
The Co-op has agreed to cover the costs in full. An independent verifier is expected to be present.
