Woman’s mother left unrecognisable after treatment by unregulated funeral directors
Two years ago, Dayni suffered the sudden and unexpected loss of her mother, Janice. The shock of her passing was traumatic enough – but what followed made the grieving process even more unbearable.
Warning: this story contains details some readers may find upsetting
Dayni was in hospital when her mother died, so it was a few days before she could view the body.
“I just couldn’t believe what I saw,” Dayni recalled. “She just didn’t look like my mum at all. She was all pushed up, with marks all over her face. And she was bloated – really bloated.”
Janice’s body had been left in the care of a funeral director, and embalmed.
But something went terribly wrong.
“She was covered in blood, severely bloated to the point of bursting,” Dayni said. “She looked battered and bruised, like she’d been attacked. But she died in her sleep. She just looked awful.”
Desperate for help, Dayni asked another funeral director to step in and take over the care of her mother’s body.
But in hindsight, as Dayni has spent two years fighting for some kind of redress, this has only served to complicate the chain of responsibility.
As Janice’s body continued to deteriorate, it became increasingly difficult to determine who was responsible for the errors in caring for her.
Sky News has seen images of the condition of Janice’s body, which we are not publishing.
But the distress of seeing her mother in such a state had a profound effect on Dayni.
Dayni speaking to Sky News
“I was devastated. I couldn’t sleep. I was thinking all sorts – had they just tossed her about like she was nothing? It’s horrible. It’s ruined my life.”
A broken system
The funeral sector in the UK remains entirely unregulated.
While trade bodies exist to uphold standards, they have little power to enforce them. And the penalties they can impose are minimal.
The most severe sanction available is expulsion – but this doesn’t prevent an expelled company from continuing to practice.
In Dayni’s case, one funeral director was investigated by their trade body, the National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF), and found to have breached standards.
They were “reprimanded” – in essence, given a telling-off – but even still, they refused to acknowledge the findings or accept responsibility.
Instead, they commissioned a report from an independent embalmer, seen by Sky News, which points the finger of blame at the second funeral director.
The second funeral director could not be investigated at all by SAIF, because they aren’t a member, though they strenuously deny any wrongdoing.
No one has any overarching responsibility
The embalmer, who was self-employed, was also given a “severe reprimand” by her trade body, the British Institute of Embalmers, as well as a “strong recommendation” to seek further training.
She could not be reached for comment.
Absent of any regulation, nobody has any overarching responsibility.
Nobody is able to give Dayni a full picture of what happened to her mother, or conduct a thorough investigation, with appropriate penalties.
When approached for comment, both funeral directors denied any wrongdoing.
We asked both trade bodies whether they were, in essence, marking their own homework, and whether they felt the sector should be regulated.
The British Institute of Embalmers said: “We would certainly welcome structured regulation within the industry. The industry does really mark its own homework.”
A spokesperson for SAIF stated: “We don’t believe the industry is marking its own homework. SAIF’s standards framework is monitored by the UK Accreditation Service. We have long supported the call for regulation of the funeral sector.”
Calls for urgent reform
Recent high-profile cases have shone a light on the urgent need for change.
In 2022, the Fuller Inquiry was launched to investigate how David Fuller was able to commit sexual offences across mortuaries in Kent.
In an interim report issued at the end of last year its chair, Sir Jonathan Michael, called for urgent regulation of the funeral sector.
And last year, Legacy Funeral Directors in Hull came under police investigation following reports of bodies not being properly cared for.
Police outside the Hessle Road branch of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull in March 2024. Pic: PA
In January, a file was passed to the Crown Prosecution Service to consider bringing criminal charges.
Lindesay Mace, of the charity Quaker Social Action, said: “Most funeral directors provide good care, but the lack of regulation means there are no mandatory training requirements, no particular standards for facilities, and no oversight of premises.”
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Perhaps most alarming is the absence of basic requirements such as refrigeration.
“There isn’t even a requirement to have cold storage facilities,” Lindesay explained. “Most people will find that completely unbelievable.”
Government response
The Ministry of Justice has acknowledged the concerns raised by grieving families and industry professionals alike.
In a statement, it confirmed it was “reviewing the full range of possible next steps… including looking at options for regulation.”
However, no concrete timeline has been provided.
In Scotland, the devolved government has already begun the process of regulation.
No answers, no accountability
For Dayni, the lack of regulation has left her without answers, or redress.
“When I looked into all of this and found out there were no regulations I couldn’t believe it. It’s just mind blowing. I just think it’s disgusting, and something needs to change.”
UK
Teenager living in ‘continuous pain’ after surgeon Dr Yaser Jabbar carried out ‘inappropriate’ operations
A 15-year-old boy who was operated on twice by a now unlicensed Great Ormond Street surgeon is living with “continuous” pain.
Finias Sandu has been told by an independent review the procedures he underwent on both his legs were “unacceptable” and “inappropriate” for his age.
The teenager from Essex was born with a condition that causes curved bones in his legs.
Aged seven, a reconstructive procedure was carried out on Finias’s left leg, lengthening the limb by 3.5cm.
A few years later, the same operation was carried out on his right leg which involved wearing an invasive and heavy metal frame for months.
He has now been told by independent experts these procedures should not have taken place and concerns have been raised over a lack of imaging being taken prior to the operations.
Yaser Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence last year. Pic: LinkedIn
His doctor at London’s prestigious Great Ormond Street Hospital was former consultant orthopaedic surgeon Yaser Jabbar. Sky News has spoken to others he treated.
Mr Jabbar also did not arrange for updated scans or for relevant X-rays to be conducted ahead of the procedures.
The surgeries have been found to have caused Finias “harm” and left him in constant pain.
“The pain is there every day, every day I’m continuously in pain,” he told Sky News.
“It’s not something really sharp, although it does get to a certain point where it hurts quite a lot, but it’s always there. It just doesn’t leave, it’s a companion to me, just always there.”
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Finias’s surgery pictures
Care of over 700 patients being assessed
Mr Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence in January last year after working at Great Ormond Street between 2017 and 2022.
The care of his 700-plus patients is being assessed, with some facing corrective surgery, among them Finias.
“Trusting somebody is hard to do, knowing what they have done to me physically and emotionally, you know, it’s just too much to comprehend for me,” he said.
“It wasn’t something just physically, like my leg pain and everything else. It was emotionally, because I put my trust in that specific doctor. My parents and I don’t really understand the more scientific terms, we just went by what he said.”
Doctors refused to treat Finias because of his surgeries
Finias and his family relocated to their native Romania soon after the reconstructive frame was removed from his right leg in the summer of 2021.
The pain worsened and they sought advice from doctors in Romania, who refused to treat Finias because of the impact of his surgeries.
Dozens of families seeking legal claims
His mother Cornelia Sandu is “furious” and feels her trust in the hospital has been shattered. They are now among dozens of families seeking legal claims.
Cyrus Plaza from Hudgell Solicitors is representing the family. He said: “In cases where it has been identified that harm was caused, we want to see Great Ormond Street Hospital agreeing to pay interim payments of compensation for the children, so that if they need therapy or treatment now, they can access it.”
Finias is accessing therapy and mental health support as he prepares for corrective surgery later in the year.
A spokesperson for Great Ormond Street Hospital told Sky News: “We are deeply sorry to Finias and his family, and all the patients and families who have been impacted.
“We want every patient and family who comes to our hospital to feel safe and cared for. We will always discuss concerns families may have and, where they submit claims, we will work to ensure the legal process can be resolved as quickly as possible.”
Finias with his mother and sister
Service not ‘safe for patients’
Sky News has attempted to contact Mr Jabbar.
An external review into the wider orthopaedic department at the hospital began in September 2022.
It was commissioned after the Royal College of Surgeons warned the hospital’s lower limb reconstruction service was not “safe for patients or adequate to meet demand”.
The investigation is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Sir Keir Starmer has said closer ties with the EU will be good for the UK’s jobs, bills and borders ahead of a summit where he could announce a deal with the bloc.
The government is set to host EU leaders in London on Monday as part of its efforts to “reset” relations post-Brexit.
A deal granting the UK access to a major EU defence fund could be on the table, according to reports – but disagreements over a youth mobility scheme and fishing rights could prove to be a stumbling block.
The prime minister has appeared to signal a youth mobility deal could be possible, telling The Times that while freedom of movement is a “red line”, youth mobility does not come under this.
His comment comes after Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, said on Friday work on a defence deal was progressing but “we’re not there yet”.
Sir Keir met European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen later that day while at a summit in Albania.
Ursula von der Leyen and Sir Keir had a brief meeting earlier this week. Pic: PA
If agreed, the deal will be the third in two weeks, following trade agreements with India and the US.
Sir Keir said: “First India, then the United States – in the last two weeks alone that’s jobs saved, faster growth and wages rising.
“More money in the pockets of British working people, achieved through striking deals not striking poses.
“Tomorrow, we take another step forward, with yet more benefits for the United Kingdom as the result of a strengthened partnership with the European Union.”
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Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said she is “worried” about what the PM might have negotiated.
Ms Badenoch – who has promised to rip up the deal with the EU if it breaches her red lines on Brexit – said: “Labour should have used this review of our EU trade deal to secure new wins for Britain, such as an EU-wide agreement on Brits using e-gates on the continent.
“Instead, it sounds like we’re giving away our fishing quotas, becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again and getting free movement by the back door. This isn’t a reset, it’s a surrender.”
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