David Fuller mortuary abuse inquiry calls for more hospital witnesses to come forward

WATCH: ITV News Meridian's Kit Bradshaw reports on the Fuller inquiry's new appeal for information

Hospital staff are being urged to come forward as witnesses by the independent inquiry examining the abuse of corpses in mortuaries by maintenance worker David Fuller.

Fuller sexually interfered with 101 dead bodies of women and girls in Kent hospitals between 2005 and 2020, keeping detailed photographic evidence of his offending.

Sir Jonathan Michael, who is leading the inquiry, has issued a new “call to action” asking for additional witnesses to come forward, following “new information relating to allegations of inappropriate behaviour in the mortuary of the former Kent and Sussex Hospital in the late 1990s”.

The chairman wants to hear from anyone who worked at the former K&S Hospital or the old Pembury Hospital from the mid-1990s onwards and who may have information.

“We’d particularly like to speak to people whose job brought them into contact with the mortuary and body stores,” Sir Jonathan added.

WATCH: Inquiry chairman, Sir Jonathan Michael, calls on former hospital workers to come forward.

Both hospitals have since closed down and been replaced by the Tunbridge Wells Hospital at Pembury, where the majority of Fuller’s crimes are thought to have been committed.

The new call for witnesses comes after the inquiry’s team received information that there were allegations of inappropriate behaviour in the mortuary at the Kent and Sussex Hospital in the late 1990s, several years earlier than the timeframe they had been focused on.

This information was passed to Kent Police but detectives have since confirmed that they found no evidence of any further offences and are not pursuing a criminal investigation.

During a 10-minute-long virtual press conference this morning, Sir Jonathan said: “We are investigating this new information to assess whether the management of the mortuary was adequate to protect the deceased and keep them safe, rather than whether any criminal wrongdoing took place.”

The new information only came to light earlier this year and at this time the inquiry team has “no evidence” of “any additional victims”, Sir Jonathan added.

Fuller’s mortuary crimes were only discovered when detectives identified him as the perpetrator of the murders of Wendy Knell and Caroline Pierce in 1987, and found computer hard drives full of evidence at his home in Heathfield, East Sussex. An examination revealed 818,051 images and 504 videos of his abuse.

In 2021, Fuller pleaded guilty to the two murders and 44 charges of sexual abuse of corpses. Last year, he was sentenced to a further four years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually abusing the bodies of 23 more women.

In November 2021, the then Health Secretary Sajid Javid announced an independent inquiry into the issues raised by the actions of David Fuller.

Some victims’ families had called for a judge-led statutory public inquiry, a request refused by the government.

Last December, it was announced that family members whose loved ones were defiled by Fuller will receive compensation of up to £25,000. That scheme closes for new applicants later this month.

The David Fuller Inquiry can be contacted via email at contact@fuller.independent-inquiry.uk or telephone on 020 7972 1444.

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