An investigation report following the disclosure of the case also points out management errors. The man desecrated the bodies of more than 100 women and girls.
A series of errors committed by a British hospital group allowed an employee to sexually assault more than 100 corpses of women and girls over more than a decade. This is the conclusion reached in the first part of an investigation report now published. Management errors and a “persistent lack of curiosity” allowed the perpetrator to carry out the abuse for too long, said inquiry chair Jonathan Michael.
The former hospital repairman was already serving a life sentence for the sexually motivated murders of two young women in the 1980s, when his necrophiliac crimes came to light. The 69-year-old worked at two hospitals in Kent, southeast England, from 2005 to 2020, during which time he abused the remains of at least 101 women and girls aged between nine and 100.
The perpetrator took on additional tasks – “this was not questioned”
Michael spoke at a press conference in London about “missed opportunities” to question employee working practices. “He routinely worked overtime and took on tasks in the morgue that were not necessary or should not be performed by someone who, like him, has chronic back problems,” Michael said. “That was never really questioned.”
In one year, the perpetrator visited the morgue 444 times, but went “unnoticed and uncontrolled”, he continued. Michael called on hospital group Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust to “think seriously and carefully about his responsibility for weaknesses and failures” and follow his recommendations. Recommendations include installing security cameras in hospital morgues and autopsy rooms. It is also suggested that cleaning staff work in pairs in these areas. (APA/AFP)