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Written by DeadGirl
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Saturday, 22 May 2004 |
May 21 2004
THE BODY of a 76-year-old grandmother has been lying in a hospital morgue for the last four and a half years.
Now the devastated family of Jean Campbell have accused Dumfries and Galloway Council of acting in an “appalling†and “unsympathetic†manner.
And they have warned the council that any attempt to bury Mrs Campbell without their approval will prompt legal action.
Councillors confirmed that if a final bid to reach agreement fails, they will seek powers to go ahead with interment.
Mrs Campbell, who lived at Charnwood Lodge in Dumfries, died on January 3, 2000.
She was due to be interred at the family plot in Troqueer Cemetery nine days later.
But when gravediggers began to prepare the plot on January 10 they “hit an obstacle†about three feet under the surface.
Mrs Campbell’s son, Jim who lives at Mews House, George Street Meuse in Dumfries, said: “My father (William) and my brother (Billy) are buried there.
“They had gone down to Billy’s coffin.â€
According to Mr Campbell the family bought the plot in 1970 when his father died.
They understood it had three layers.
When Billy was killed in an accident in 1990 he was buried with his father. Mrs Campbell’s wish had always been to be buried with her husband.
“The family was devastated,†Mr Campbell said. “According to burial records my father was interred seven feet down and my brother was six feet.
“The council was telling us they were actually between four and five and three feet down.
“It meant there was no room for my mother as the recommendation is there should be three feet of earth covering a casket.
“The council had refused to bury her there anyway but then changed their mind and offered to bury her there within a tomb. There are either laws or there aren’t.â€
According to Mr Campbell the council, over the following six months, made three offers to bury his mother: in another cemetery; in another plot near the family one; and in the family plot covered by a brick built tomb.
All were turned down.
Mr Campbell said the family had offered to accept another plot if his brother was re-interred there and his mother buried alongside his father but the council would not accept.
Dumfries MP Russell Brown has been involved; the local government ombudsman who rejected the approach; and the Queens Counsel.
It was the QC’s suspicion that there was a “wrongful interment in the lair.â€
According to a report on the opinion, passed on by solicitors’ Hewats: “He (the QC) appeared to find it inconceivable that the council would make two shallow interments without realising that, without recording it, without informing the family and putting incorrect depths into the burial records.â€
The QC suggested an excavation at the front of the plot to determine how many caskets are there.
But according to Mr Campbell the council refused that course of action.
He added: “If, as the council has suggested, the burial levels are down to ground conditions, why were we not told?â€
Mr Campbell wants an independent investigation by the Confederation of Burial Authorities and the Institute of Burial and Cremation Administration, advisory bodies on burial and exhumation. He claims the council rejected a CBA offer to investigate as far back as 2001.
He added: “I have taken legal advice and under Scots Burial law and it says the unauthorised removal of a body from the custody of anyone entitled to dispose of it may well amount to theft.
“I am the Executor of the will and it’s my decision. I warn anyone now, especially undertakers, if they remove my mother’s body I will resort to legal action.
“This has been a devastating time for the family. The first six months were awful. I couldn’t sleep at night from worry.
“But, as time passes, you become hardened to a situation.
“I believe the council has made a mistake but is just not big enough to admit it. They have always wanted to keep this quiet.â€
And he said other councils, like South Lanarkshire, had sorted similar situations in a couple of weeks.
Yesterday a spokesperson for the council said: “We have offered the family concerned a range of alternative options for the burial.
“Unfortunately none of our offers have been accepted and this matter must now be dealt with.
“We are sorry this could not have been resolved before now and hope the family can accept that Dumfries and Galloway Council has done everything within its power to try and find an acceptable solution.
“Councillors have instructed us to make one final attempt to agree a way forward with the family and we will be doing that as soon as possible.
“If this fails, the council has instructed officers to make the necessary arrangement for the burial using the option of creating a tomb over the original layer.â€
http://icdumfries.icnetwork.co.uk/news/localnews/dumfriesnews/tm_objectid=14263074%26method=full%26siteid=77296%26headline=grave%2danguish-name_page.html |
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