Family to press minister for funeral regulation

A family will travel to Parliament later to campaign for urgent regulation of the funeral industry.

Tristan Essex and his sister Claire Stockdale were “absolutely heartbroken” to discover that the body of their grandmother, Jessie Stockdale, was found in a funeral home in Hull, five months after they had attended her funeral and received ashes.

Emma Hardy, the Hull MP who has arranged the visit, said the family were being “incredibly brave” in “telling truth to power”.

Police removed 35 bodies and a quantity of ashes from Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in March. Two people remain on bail in connection with the investigation.

The family held a second funeral for Jessie in May.

Claire Stockdale said her grandmother was a “quiet, gentle woman” who “did not deserve the lack of respect shown to her” following her death.

The mother of five said it was “grossly inadequate” that the funeral industry was not regulated.

Mr Essex said the Legacy inquiry had “devastated more families than just ours and must never be allowed to happen again".

The family will meet Alex Davies-Jones, a minister in the justice department.

Several families affected by the Legacy investigation had planned to travel to Parliament.

However, in a letter to the families, Hardy said Humberside Police and the Crown Prosecution Service had raised concerns about potential witnesses taking part and instructed her to rearrange the visit.

Hardy said they agreed that just one family should attend.

Mr Essex and Ms Stockdale will deliver messages to the minister from other families, including Billie Jo Suffill.

Ms Suffill lost her father, Andrew, and brother, Dwane, within five days of one another in July 2022, and used Legacy for their cremations.

She said she still had not received her father’s ashes and feared that she may have the wrong ashes for her brother.

In July, Humberside Police confirmed officers had contacted 163 families linked to ashes recovered from Legacy Independent Funeral Directors. Ms Suffill was not contacted.

The mother of three said it was “absolute torment” not knowing where her father’s ashes were.

“He could be on someone’s mantelpiece, in someone’s necklace," she said. "I will never know.”

Mr Essex said there were many elements of the funeral industry that the family would like to see regulated, including the implementation of rules around refrigeration and storage facilities.

He said this would have stopped him witnessing “the decomposition of my nanna” following her death.

Earlier this year, the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management, which has also been calling for regulation, said many funeral directors worked "to a code of conduct through industry bodies, which can include inspections for members", though it was "not compulsory".

Humberside Police is continuing its investigation into Legacy.

A 46-year-old man, who was arrested on 9 March on suspicion of prevention of a lawful and decent burial, fraud by false representation and fraud by abuse of position, remains on conditional bail.

A 54-year-old woman, who was arrested in July on suspicion of money laundering offences, also remains on bail.

Victim Support has a telephone support line for anyone affected by the investigation.

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