My dead uncle was propped up at a party in his coffin with baseball hat on and fag in his mouth
MACABRE ACCUSATION AT CARER TRIBUNAL Nephew horrified by neighbour’s claims
AN ELDERLY cancer victim’s body was propped up in an open coffin at a party, it was claimed yesterday.
A tribunal heard neighbours claimed they saw the body wearing a baseball hat and sunglasses and with a cigarette in his mouth.
The allegation was made during a fitness to practise hearing involving housing support officer Catriona Dey.
She is accused of accessing the bank accounts of David Cummings, 68, forming an inappropriate relationship with him and claiming to hospital staff she was his next of kin.
It is also alleged she failed to tell her bosses she was convicted of a £8500 benefit fraud last March.
David’s nephew Douglas Gordon, 57, told the hearing in Dundee how a party had been arranged in his uncle’s house, without the family’s knowledge, after he passed away.
Neighbours at Roadside Sheltered Housing Complex, in Cumbernauld, went to complain about the noise and allegedly stumbled across the macabre scene. Douglas said: “David’s neighbours told me when they went in they saw his coffin propped up in the corner of the room. It was open and David’s body had a baseball bat and sunglasses on. He also had a cigarette in his mouth. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.”
David’s daughters, Sharon McReynolds and Carolynne Hill – who had not seen their father for 20 years prior to his death – said they suspected Dey of taking advantage of him in his dying days.
Sharon, 46, who met Dey for the first time at her father’s funeral, told the tribunal: “She knew how much money he had in his bank accounts and his PIN numbers. She admitted withdrawing money from his account but said it was for new bed linen.”
Carolynne told the hearing: “Catriona made inappropriate comments about my dad and how her partner was very friendly with him. I got the impression she forced herself on him as a friend.”
Dey, 41, of Hamilton, did not attend yesterday’s hearing. She denies more than 20 allegations against her. The tribunal continues.