There was a “missed opportunity” to tighten security in NHS mortuaries after Jimmy Savile’s crimes were unearthed, the chair of a major inquiry into serial necrophiliac David Fuller has told The Independent.

Fuller spent 15 years sexually abusing the corpses of more than 100 women and girls at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, after police found a trove of images at his home in 2020 during an investigation into a long-unsolved double murder he committed in 1987.

An independent inquiry concluded on Tuesday that “serious failings” in management and procedures – and a persistent “lack of curiosity” – at the hospitals Fuller worked at enabled the 68-year-old electrician to carry out his crimes for so long without ever being suspected.

The probe identified a host of missed chances to catch Fuller, who is alleged to have accessed the mortuary 444 times in a year, checked logbooks to scan for potential disease in the corpses he abused, and frequently locked himself in the post-mortem examination room to commit his crimes.

Inquiry chair Sir Jonathan Michael made 17 recommendations for tightening security at the mortuary, but he also lamented that similar steps had not been across the NHS back in 2015 after inquiries into Savile detailed suspicions about the notorious paedophile’s abuse of dead bodies at Leeds general infirmary.

A 2014 inquiry focused on Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust detailed “incredibly harrowing” but uncofirmed allegations that Savile – who had unrestricted access to the mortuary – committed sex acts on corpses there, and claimed to have jewellery made from glass eyes taken from the dead.

  • ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝OP
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    61 year ago

    Well that’s all horrific.

    I was never sure what the situation was with the Saville claims but it seems they are “unconfirmed” but only because evidence would be hard to find (although the article linked to suggests he took photos, he could easily have destroyed them).

    • ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝OP
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      11 year ago

      I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that having sex with children and corpses is so widely reviled that they are pretty much universal tabboos.

      • @feedum_sneedson@lemmy.world
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        21 year ago

        With children definitely isn’t historically, is it? I’d have thought corpses and mothers, but apparently there’s plenty of people willing to do both. Mother’s corpse? I’m sure it’s been done, but surely that’s near universal.

      • @fluke@lemmy.world
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        11 year ago

        What are defining by ‘universal’ though? Universal across ALL humans? Well clearly no because there are tribes which have isolated traditions and beliefs surrounding particular things that we find revolting.

        Even if there was something that EVERY group of humans found reprehensible, there are still going to be individuals that will do it.

  • AutoTL;DRB
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    11 year ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    There was a “missed opportunity” to tighten security in NHS mortuaries after Jimmy Savile’s crimes were unearthed, the chair of a major inquiry into serial necrophiliac David Fuller has told The Independent.

    Fuller spent 15 years sexually abusing the corpses of more than 100 women and girls at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, after police found a trove of images at his home in 2020 during an investigation into a long-unsolved double murder he committed in 1987.

    An independent inquiry concluded on Tuesday that “serious failings” in management and procedures – and a persistent “lack of curiosity” – at the hospitals Fuller worked at enabled the 68-year-old electrician to carry out his crimes for so long without ever being suspected.

    The probe identified a host of missed chances to catch Fuller, who is alleged to have accessed the mortuary 444 times in a year, checked logbooks to scan for potential disease in the corpses he abused, and frequently locked himself in the post-mortem examination room to commit his crimes.

    A 2014 inquiry focused on Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust detailed “incredibly harrowing” but uncofirmed allegations that Savile – who had unrestricted access to the mortuary – committed sex acts on corpses there, and claimed to have jewellery made from glass eyes taken from the dead.

    While NHS England has already written to trusts urging them to ensure access to mortuaries was controlled in line with interim recommendations made by Sir Jonathan in 2021, he expressed hope that hospital bosses will study Tuesday’s report and take any further additional steps it highlights.


    The original article contains 774 words, the summary contains 261 words. Saved 66%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!