Two years ago, Dayni suffered the sudden and unexpected loss of her mother, Janice. The shock of her passing was traumatic enough – but what followed made the grieving process even more unbearable.
Warning: this story contains details some readers may find upsetting
Dayni was in hospital when her mother died, so it was a few days before she could view the body.
“I just couldn’t believe what I saw,” Dayni recalled. “She just didn’t look like my mum at all. She was all pushed up, with marks all over her face. And she was bloated – really bloated.”
Janice’s body had been left in the care of a funeral director, and embalmed.
But something went terribly wrong.
“She was covered in blood, severely bloated to the point of bursting,” Dayni said. “She looked battered and bruised, like she’d been attacked. But she died in her sleep. She just looked awful.”
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Desperate for help, Dayni asked another funeral director to step in and take over the care of her mother’s body.
But in hindsight, as Dayni has spent two years fighting for some kind of redress, this has only served to complicate the chain of responsibility.
As Janice’s body continued to deteriorate, it became increasingly difficult to determine who was responsible for the errors in caring for her.
Sky News has seen images of the condition of Janice’s body, which we are not publishing.
But the distress of seeing her mother in such a state had a profound effect on Dayni.
“I was devastated. I couldn’t sleep. I was thinking all sorts – had they just tossed her about like she was nothing? It’s horrible. It’s ruined my life.”
A broken system
The funeral sector in the UK remains entirely unregulated.
While trade bodies exist to uphold standards, they have little power to enforce them. And the penalties they can impose are minimal.
The most severe sanction available is expulsion – but this doesn’t prevent an expelled company from continuing to practice.
In Dayni’s case, one funeral director was investigated by their trade body, the National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF), and found to have breached standards.
They were “reprimanded” – in essence, given a telling-off – but even still, they refused to acknowledge the findings or accept responsibility.
Instead, they commissioned a report from an independent embalmer, seen by Sky News, which points the finger of blame at the second funeral director.
The second funeral director could not be investigated at all by SAIF, because they aren’t a member, though they strenuously deny any wrongdoing.
No one has any overarching responsibility
The embalmer, who was self-employed, was also given a “severe reprimand” by her trade body, the British Institute of Embalmers, as well as a “strong recommendation” to seek further training.
She could not be reached for comment.
Absent of any regulation, nobody has any overarching responsibility.
Nobody is able to give Dayni a full picture of what happened to her mother, or conduct a thorough investigation, with appropriate penalties.
When approached for comment, both funeral directors denied any wrongdoing.
We asked both trade bodies whether they were, in essence, marking their own homework, and whether they felt the sector should be regulated.
The British Institute of Embalmers said: “We would certainly welcome structured regulation within the industry. The industry does really mark its own homework.”
A spokesperson for SAIF stated: “We don’t believe the industry is marking its own homework. SAIF’s standards framework is monitored by the UK Accreditation Service. We have long supported the call for regulation of the funeral sector.”
Calls for urgent reform
Recent high-profile cases have shone a light on the urgent need for change.
In 2022, the Fuller Inquiry was launched to investigate how David Fuller was able to commit sexual offences across mortuaries in Kent.
In an interim report issued at the end of last year its chair, Sir Jonathan Michael, called for urgent regulation of the funeral sector.
And last year, Legacy Funeral Directors in Hull came under police investigation following reports of bodies not being properly cared for.
In January, a file was passed to the Crown Prosecution Service to consider bringing criminal charges.
Lindesay Mace, of the charity Quaker Social Action, said: “Most funeral directors provide good care, but the lack of regulation means there are no mandatory training requirements, no particular standards for facilities, and no oversight of premises.”
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Perhaps most alarming is the absence of basic requirements such as refrigeration.
“There isn’t even a requirement to have cold storage facilities,” Lindesay explained. “Most people will find that completely unbelievable.”
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Government response
The Ministry of Justice has acknowledged the concerns raised by grieving families and industry professionals alike.
In a statement, it confirmed it was “reviewing the full range of possible next steps… including looking at options for regulation.”
However, no concrete timeline has been provided.
In Scotland, the devolved government has already begun the process of regulation.
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No answers, no accountability
For Dayni, the lack of regulation has left her without answers, or redress.
“When I looked into all of this and found out there were no regulations I couldn’t believe it. It’s just mind blowing. I just think it’s disgusting, and something needs to change.”
