Cops launch undertaker cash probe
POLICE have swooped on an undertakers at the centre of a cash probe amid fears over human ashes found on the premises.
A Scottish Government source said last night the Glasgow premises of A. Milne Funeral Directors had been seized by police.
Officers are understood to be treating the area as a crime scene although this is being denied by the firm.
The Record told a week ago how cops had been called in by Dumbarton MSP Jackie Baillie after she received complaints about the company.
Customers said cash for funeral finance plans had not been passed to third party provider Golden Charter. Since the story broke, about 20 others have made similar claims.
Golden Charter said they only had a small number of plans related to the funeral director – the last in 2021.
Earlier Anne Gibson, of Dumbarton, had to chase the undertaker for the ashes of her mum, Patricia Allison, after the 100-yearold’s death a year ago.
Instead, she was given the ashes of a man which had been left at the Dumbarton parlour years earlier, while Patricia’s remains were still at Clydebank Crematorium.
The firm said this was an isolated incident and a member of staff had been sacked. But the alleged discovery of ashes is thought to have widened the probe into the firm.
Undertaker Ashleigh Milne shut up shop in Dumbarton’s High Street last year but the firm then operated from premises in Balornock, Glasgow.
Baillie called in cops, who said “Inquiries are at an early stage.” The Inspector of Funerals, Cremations and Burials said they were aware of the probe.