Ministers will help find answers for mother over empty baby coffin, says Nicola Sturgeon

The First Minister’s pledged to help a mother who found her baby's coffin empty 42 years after it was buried.

Nicola Sturgeon said she would see what assistance her government could offer to 68 –year-old Lydia Reid in her search for answers after she discovered her son's coffin was buried in 1975 with no body in it.

Ms Reid was granted a court order for an exhumation at his burial plot in Edinburgh in August but no human remains were found.

The case was raised at First Minister's Questions in Holyrood by Gordon Lindhurst, Conservative MSP for the Lothian region.

He said: “This revelation comes after 42 years of her seeking to discover what happened to the remains of her child and her leading the campaign which exposed how hospitals had unlawfully kept deceased children's body parts for research purposes.

“Will the First Minister commit to finding the answers to what happened in Lydia Reid's case and can she confirm that everything will be done to discover whether this has happened to other families as well?''

Extending her sympathies to Mr Reid, Ms Sturgeon said: “It is very difficult for any of us who haven't gone through experiences like this to fully appreciate and understand the distress that Lydia Reid and any others in a similar situation would be experiencing and I can only imagine what that must be.

“Clearly there has been some work around issues of this nature in the past, but I will give an assurance today that the relevant minister will be happy to meet with Lydia Reid to see what the Scottish Government or our agencies can do to try to ensure that she gets the answers that she certainly deserves and will personally feel she needs in order to allow her to move on from this revelation.

“I will give that assurance to the member today, and will take steps to ensure that meeting happens as soon as possible.'