Shropshire Star

Shrewsbury baby ashes campaign dad 'left in the dark' over promised inquiry

The leader of an action group demanding answers over baby ashes missing from Emstrey Crematorium in Shrewsbury today claimed he was being "left in the dark" about a promised independent inquiry into the scandal by Shropshire Council.

Published
  • See also: Shrewsbury baby ashes inquiry ‘has not been delayed’

Glen Perkins made the claim at a public meeting of Action For Ashes, where he voiced concerns about what was happening .

The inquiry, announced by Shropshire Council leader Keith Barrow in June, will look into why families have not received ashes of babies from Emstrey Crematorium in Shrewsbury over the last 10 years.

Mr Perkins and his wife Louise lost their four-month-old daughter Olivia in 2007 to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

But following cremation at Emstrey, they were not given any ashes.

Mr Perkins, 52, of Monkmoor, Shrewsbury, claimed he had found out that only one in 30 sets of ashes had been returned to families following the cremation of their children at Emstrey.

Shropshire Council confirmed in June that an independent inquiry would be held into the crematorium's failure to return the ashes of babies to their families.

But Mr Perkins said after last night's meeting at Shrewsbury Baptist Church: "I was promised an update on the inquiry by the end of this month. That has not happened.

"I have no idea what is happening.

"We have been left in the dark again for some reason, they don't want to speak to me, or they are too scared to speak to me.

"Four months is an awful long time and I think we should have heard something by now. I am no expert and I don't know how long to get these things going. It may be the council is taking its time in getting it done properly and fair play if they are doing that.

"What I don't thank them for is for not keeping us informed over what is happening."

Mr Perkins said the group was looking to fight to change legislation at crematoriums, councils, funeral directors and hospitals nationwide.

He appealed for anyone who had been affected by the scandal to contact him via the Action For Ashes Facebook page or by emailing actionforashes@outlook.com

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.