Hull MP Pushes For Local Inquiry Into Baby Ashes Scandal

A Hull mum who's calling for a local inquiry into the handling of baby's ashes in the city will meet local MP Diana Johnson today to discuss the issue.

The ashes of Tina Trowhill's stillborn son, William, were scattered without her knowledge back in 1994 and she's still waiting for answers as to how it happened.

A report into the scandal in Shrewsbury recently took place and both Tina and Ms Johnson will now put pressure on Hull City Council to do the same.

They now want to see an independent inquiry carried out here and Ms Johnson told Viking FM:

"I still think there's an issue about what happened in Hull because we know that some families in the city faced a similar situation to those families in Shrewsbury and so I still support what local families are calling for which is an independent inquiry into what happened in this area and to be held as soon as possible.

"A few months ago I went along to meet the leader of Hull City Council, Stephen Brady, to ask him to set this up and he wanted to wait for the findings of the Shrewsbury inquiry. Now we have got that, we need to make further representation to Councillor Brady to ask him again now to set up this independent inquiry for Hull to find out what happened for local families.

"Tina has been very brave to come forward and to really want to know what happened and to really make sure that all the steps are in place to stop it ever happening again. Tina is very concerned about other families in the city who might have gone through a similar experience and make sure that if they want to find out about what happened that they are able to do that."

In a recent interview, Tina told us:

"I really hope there is a local inquiry because I think that's the only way that we will get any answers to the concerns that we've raised. They did originally offer a scrutiny committee but to me that's not transparent enough. It needs to be something that's transparent and that parents that have been affected can see that this has been dealt with and maybe get some answers at the end of it as to how this has happened.

"I don't feel the inquiry in Shrewsbury addresses the issues in Hull because in Hull they are clearly saying yes they collected the ashes and strew them but in Shewsbury they said they didn't collect any ashes so the Shrewsbury report can't answer the issues in Hull."

In a statement, Hull City Council said:

"We understand how distressing and important an issue this is for all families who have lost their babies.

“We will take our time to reflect on the findings and recommendations of the Shropshire report. Working with the hospital and the funeral directors we have already undertaken changes to the processes we had in place and agree that there needs to be a consistency in all crematoria across the country.”