David Fuller: Mortuary bosses of murderer who abused bodies showed ‘lack of curiosity around his actions’
Bosses at one of the hospitals where a double murderer was able to abuse dead bodies for 15 years showed a “persistent lack of curiosity” during his offending, an inquiry has found.
David Fuller, who was a maintenance worker, abused the corpses of at least 101 women and girls at Kent and Sussex Hospital and the Tunbridge Wells Hospital before his arrest in December 2020.
His victims ranged in age from nine to 100.
The government launched an independent inquiry in 2021 to investigate how Fuller was able to carry out his crimes undetected, with the first phase of the probe looking at his employer – Tunbridge Wells Hospital.
Fuller went into mortuary 444 times ‘unnoticed’ and ‘unchecked’
The inquiry found senior bosses at the hospital were “aware of problems in the running of the mortuary from as early as 2008”.
It found that he entered one mortuary 444 times in the space of one year “unnoticed and unchecked” and that deceased people were also left out of fridges and overnight during working hours.
The report also found there were “serious failings” at the hospital, with Fuller able to “offend undetected” while standard procedures weren’t followed.
The inquiry held interviews with more than 200 witnesses and reviewed more than 3,700 documents.
Based on the evidence heard, the inquiry team made 17 recommendations to “prevent any similar atrocities” happening again in the hospital.
The recommendations include:
• Non-mortuary staff and contractors should be accompanied when in the mortuary
• All regulatory standards must be met
• Deceased people should not be left out of fridges overnight or while maintenance is happening
• Only those with legitimate access can enter the mortuary
• CCTV cameras must be installed and footage reviewed regularly
• Record kept of who is accessing the mortuary and how often
• Trust board must review governance structures
‘Missed opportunities to question his working practices’
At a press conference in Westminster, central London, on Tuesday, inquiry chairman Sir Jonathan Michael said: “The offences that Fuller committed were truly shocking and he will never be released from prison.
“Failures of management, of governance, of regulation, failure to follow standard policies and procedures, together with a persistent lack of curiosity, all contributed to the creation of the environment in which he was able to offend, and to do so for 15 years without ever being suspected or caught.
“Over the years, there were missed opportunities to question Fuller’s working practices. He routinely worked beyond his contracted hours, undertaking tasks in the mortuary that were not necessary or which should not have been carried out by someone with his chronic back problems. This was never properly questioned.”
Sir Jonathan added that “mortuary staff were mostly unsupervised and left to their own devices” and “frequently did not follow policies and standard operating procedures”.
Fuller, 69, was given a whole-life prison term in December 2021 for the murders of Wendy Knell and Caroline Pierce in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, in 1987.
At the time of his sentencing in 2021, 78 of the mortuary victims had been identified.
But following Fuller’s conviction, the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate was able to identify a total of 101 victims.
He was sentenced again in December last year for the further abuse of 23 bodies.
Last year, the daughter of one victim described how she felt when she found out about the abuse of her mother and said: “The pain and emotional upset seared through my body like a knife.
“He took advantage of her helplessness in death where we were unable to protect her.”
An examination of Fuller’s computer hard drive at his home in Heathfield, East Sussex, revealed 818,051 images and 504 videos of his abuse as well as evidence of his “persistent interest” in rape, abuse and murder of women.
A second part of the inquiry was launched in July to review how people who have died are cared for around the country, focusing on safeguarding in private mortuaries, private ambulances and funeral directors.
The findings of this part of the inquiry are expected in 2024.
The government has been temporarily blocked from concluding the Chagos Islands deal by a late-night High Court injunction.
Ministers had been expected to complete a deal that would have seen the UK hand over sovereignty of the archipelago to Mauritius in the coming hours.
But in an emergency injunction granted early on Thursday, brought against the Foreign Office, Mr Justice Goose allowed “interim relief” to Bertrice Pompe, who had previously taken steps to bring legal action over the deal.
Ms Pompe is a Chagossian woman who sees the deal as a betrayal of their rights.
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The order, granted at 2.25am, states the government may take “no conclusive or legally binding step to conclude its negotiations concerning the possible transfer of the British Indian Ocean Territory, also known as the Chagos Archipelago, to a foreign government or bind itself as to the particular terms of any such transfer”.
A hearing is taking place at the High Court this morning, with crowds gathered in support of the block.
The location of the Chagos Islands
The government insisted this morning the Chagos Islands deal is the “right thing” for the UK.
A spokesperson said: “We do not comment on ongoing legal cases. This deal is the right thing to protect the British people and our national security.”
It was expected that Sir Keir Starmer would attend a virtual ceremony today to formally hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, despite heavy criticism from the Conservatives and Reform UK.
The government has argued international legal rulings in favour of Mauritius mean this handover is necessary.
As part of the deal, the UK will lease back a military base on the archipelago for 99 years.
Robert Jenrick, the former justice secretary, told Sky News that the Chagos Islands deal is a “sell-out for British interests”.
He said: “You’re seeing British sovereign territory being given away to an ally of China and billions of pounds of British taxpayers money being spent for the privilege.
“So, if this group can force the government to think twice, then all power to them.”
With this injunction in place, Sir Keir can no longer legally complete the deal.
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Ms Pompe, who filed the application for interim relief, believes the British government is acting with disregard for the human rights of the Chagossian people.
She has argued completion of the deal would amount to a breach of the Human Rights Act and the Equality Act.
Chagossians are the former residents of the Chagos Islands, who were removed from the islands, predominantly to Mauritius, between the mid-1960s and early-1970s.
Those born on the islands and their children hold British nationality, but subsequent generations born outside British territory have no entitlement to it.
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