The shocking case of the man who abused more than 100 corpses in British hospitals

David Fuller, 69, was sentenced to two life terms in 2021 and 16 years in prison for abuse of a corpse, meaning he will die in prison.

An investigation concluded by the British police confirmed that employee David Fuller abused cadavers in the hospitals where he worked and managed to act undetected due to “serious failures” at the plants.

Between 2007 and 2020, Fuller abused the bodies of at least 101 women and girls in Kent hospitals.

Inquiry chair Jonathan Michael said “there were missed opportunities to question Fuller’s employment practices”.

He added that the abuse “has caused shock and horror across our country and beyond.”

The inquiry made 17 recommendations to prevent “similar atrocities”.

These include installing cameras in morgues, ensuring that people not attending the funeral service are always accompanied and that bodies are not left out of refrigerators overnight.

Fuller, 69, was sentenced to two life terms in 2021 for the murders of Wendy Knell and Caroline Pierce and sentenced to a total of 16 years in prison for abuse of corpses, meaning he will die in prison.

As well as management failures at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells, Jonathan said there had been “a failure to comply with standard policies and procedures, combined with a persistent lack of curiosity”.

According to him, the management “was aware of the problems in the operation of the morgue as early as 2008. But there is no evidence that effective measures were taken to remedy these problems,” he said.

“Little attention” was paid to who accessed the mortuary, as Fuller visited it 444 times in a year, something that went “unnoticed and unchecked”.

Jonathan said: “By identifying such serious failings, it is clear to me that someone must be held accountable.”

Fuller, originally from Heathfield in East Sussex, worked for three decades as a maintenance supervisor at hospitals in Tunbridge Wells in Kent.

He committed the crimes in the morgues between 2007 and his arrest in 2020.

Fuller gained access to the morgues using his employees’ key card, choosing times when he knew employees had gone home and when areas were unattended.

There he systematically abused at least 101 corpses, the youngest of which was nine years old and the oldest 100 years old.

At his trial, the court heard how he visited “the same bodies over and over again”.

Responding to the inquiry’s report, the hospital’s chief executive, Miles Scott, said the findings contained “important lessons for us”.

He said the “vast majority” of the recommendations made by the inquiry “have already been put into practice in the period since Fuller’s arrest, and we will implement the remaining recommendations as quickly as possible.”

In a written statement to Parliament, Health Minister Maria Caulfield said: “I want to deeply apologize on behalf of the Government and the NHS and commit to learning the lessons.”

“We welcome the report and will ensure there is a full response to the recommendations in spring 2024 and that lessons are learned by the NHS so that no family has to repeat this experience.”

A second part of the investigation was launched in July to analyze how deceased people are treated across the country, focusing on conditions in private morgues, private ambulances and funeral homes.

The conclusions of this part of the investigation are expected in 2024.

Source: Terra

Rose

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