Staff attacked more than 100 bodies at a British clinic

The investigation report after learning of the case also shows the presence of administrative errors. The man desecrated the bodies of more than 100 women and girls.

A series of failures 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 the investigation report which has now been published. The head of the investigation, Jonathan Michael, said administrative errors and a “persistent lack of curiosity” had allowed the perpetrator to carry out his abuses for so long.

The former hospital reformer was already serving a life sentence for the sexually motivated murders of two young women in the 1980s when his necrophilia crimes were revealed. The 69-year-old worked in two hospitals in Kent, south-east England, from 2005 to 2020, during which time he abused the remains of at least 101 women and girls aged between nine and 100.

Perpetrator took on additional duties – ‘never questioned’

Michael spoke at a press conference in London about “missed opportunities” to question an employee’s work practices. “He routinely worked beyond his contracted hours and took on tasks in the morgue that were not necessary or should not be performed by someone like him with chronic back problems,” Michael said. “That was never in doubt.”

He added that in one year, the perpetrator visited the morgue 444 times, but this went “unnoticed and without control.” Michael called on the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Hospital Group to “think seriously and carefully about their responsibility for weaknesses and failures” and follow his recommendations. Recommendations include installing security cameras in morgues and autopsy rooms in hospitals. It is also suggested that housekeeping staff work in pairs in these areas. (APA/AFP)