‘I want justice for my mum’: Daughter of mortuary abuse victim calls for answers

Amanda Miah tells ITV Meridian's Kit Bradshaw how David Fuller's crimes left her 'sickened'

The daughter of a woman whose dead body was abused by David Fuller in Tunbridge Wells Hospital has spoken of 'wanting to get justice for her mum'.

In an exclusive interview, Amanda Miah told ITV News Meridian that the thought of what David Fuller did has been “sickening” and that she’s found it hard to “carry on with the grieving process” since police informed her of the news two months ago. 

Fuller, who worked as an electrician, has been sentenced today to life in prison for the murders of Wendy Knell and Carline Pierce in Tunbridge Wells in 1987. He was jailed for 12 years for the abuse of women's and girls' bodies in hospital mortuaries.

Sonia Miah died in 2018 at the age of 54. Her body was taken to the mortuary at the hospital in Pembury. Detectives told her children that they were able to identify her as one of Fuller’s victims through videos he kept of his crimes. 

Police informed more than 80 families that their loved ones were among Fuller’s mortuary victims in October, ahead of his trial for the so-called ‘bedsit murders’.

He admitted the hospital offending and changed his plea to guilty for the killings part-way through the trial.

• Amanda Miah speaks to ITV Meridian:

“I was at my dad’s house and some [family] liaison officers knocked on the door”, Ms Miah recalls.

“They actually wanted to speak to my dad but they didn’t know he had passed away, so they spoke to us and told us what had happened. I was in shock, it was horrible.

“It’s hard to carry on with the grieving process as well, after hearing something like that. Also, I’m glad my dad is not here to hear what had happened [to her].”

The recent revelations have also brought back painful memories for Ms Miah of having to delay her mother’s funeral three years ago, because of apparent problems getting her body released from the hospital.

“We actually forgot about it until this came up. They couldn’t find her body, we had to hold back her funeral,” she said.

“I don’t even know if my mum’s ashes are her ashes anymore. I don’t know if he’d taken her body out of the hospital. There are so many unanswered questions that I do have.”

The health secretary has announced an independent inquiry into the crimes at the mortuary, and the wider concerns raised for the NHS.

Ms Miah is among a number of victims’ families calling for this to be a full public inquiry.

Legal executive Ben Davey, from Dean Wilson LLP, is representing a number of the victims' families.

He told ITV News Meridian: "It’s important that the families can be involved [in the inquiry process]. At present it’s not clear what level of involvement they’ll be allowed to have. Clearly they want to ensure that people are held to account for the mistakes that have occurred.”

In response to our interview, a spokesperson for the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust said: “The Trust is in contact with Sonia’s family to reassure them that there is no question of her body being lost.  We are continuing to offer Sonia’s family all the help they may need.”

More details about the scope of the forthcoming independent inquiry are expected to be published in due course.