Mum’s anguish as police reveal son’s body parts kept for years in organ scandal
‘Don’t knock us comedy actors – it’s a tough gig’ 26 MORE FAMILIES ARE AFFECTED
NORTH East-born actor Rowan Atkinson has said it is a “shame” comedy is dismissed as “froth” in the arts world.
The Mr Bean and Blackadder star returns to television screens tonight as French detective Jules Maigret.
Atkinson, 62, who was born and brought up in County Durham, spoke about “lightening up” the pipe-smoking character for the new film, titled Night At The Crossroads.
Talking about employing the same skills to a role, be it comic or serious, he said: “The skills I’m employing to play Maigret are exactly the same skills I use to play comedy roles.
“Yet there’s a sort of general disregard for comedy in the arts world. It’s thought to be inferior. But I think comedy is actually, generally speaking, more difficult than the serious stuff.
“And yet because it’s comedy it’s dismissed as froth, which is a shame.”
The new instalment of the ITV series sees Maigret investigating after the body of a diamond merchant is discovered in a car.
Atkinson also recently played his famous character, the bumbling Mr Bean, in a Chinese film titled Top Funny Comedian.
“It was just a cameo appearance. I just played Mr Bean. I didn’t have to speak,” he explained.
“The good thing about Mr Bean as a character is he’s very self-contained.”
Maigret: Night At The Crossroads will be on ITV tonight at 8pm. NORTHUMBRIA Police say 26 families in its area have now been identified as having the organs of a deceased loved one stored for years without their knowledge.
One of those affected is Trudy Chapman, who lost her 20-year-old son Justin Smith when he was attacked on a night out with his friends and girlfriend in November 1995.
His killer was jailed following the assault near the former Tuxedo Royale party boat on the Newcastle Quayside and, with Jason buried, Judy thought the tragedy was in the past.
But the 63-year-old recently learned that some of Justin’s organs had been stored at South Tyneside Hospital without her knowledge.
The details – revealed by the Sunday Sun last week – came to light after an audit was carried out in March 2015, following a change in the law.
It was discovered that a number of samples removed during post-mortem examinations were kept in a South Shields lab without families knowing.
Trudy, of Sunderland, said: “I feel like I’ve been lied to and I’m very angry.
“I can accept that they were just doing their jobs at the time, but the way in which it has come out feels like a cover-up.
“The police came to my door six weeks ago out of the blue.”
Justin, who lived in Gateshead at the time of the attack, was buried in Bishopwearmouth Cemetery, where his mum visits him regularly.
And Trudy, who was forced to give up work two years ago after suffering a stroke, says things haven’t been made easier by recent revelations.
“The policeman told me that some ‘tissue samples’ were removed at the post-mortem and stored and that they were now in a position to return them to me,” she said.
“At first I didn’t want to know what those samples were, but then I forced myself to ask.
“The answer was his brain and wind pipe, as well as other tissues. That’s not ‘tissue samples’ – that’s organs.”
Justin’s organs were cremated and the ashes returned to his family earlier this week. Although Trudy says the police have always been courteous, she believes the situation could have been handled differently.
Revealing the fresh pain, she said: “I’ve just got to the stage which most people reach where you stop thinking about what happened and you just remember the happy and fun times. This has brought it all back. TRUDY CHAPMAN Justin was a loving boy and he always there for me. Out of my three children he was the mummy’s boy and I miss him every day.”
A Northumbria Police spokesperson said those affected are the “absolute priority”.
They added: “The human tissue samples of cases that happened many years ago have been identified and we have specially trained officers contacting relatives of 26 people to inform them of this.
“We are doing this with the utmost sensitivity and it is our priority to make sure this is done as quickly and sympathetically as possible.”
Officers previously stated they were examining cases from across the force dating between 1991 and 2000.
Last week, Sarah Simpson, of Blakelaw, Newcastle, found out her dad Terry’s organs were stripped from his body and secretly stored. Terry died in April 1995, aged 41.
Shelby Blowers, of Teesside, then found out her dad’s heart had been discovered in a fridge at South Tyneside District Hospital. Jeffrey Blowers died of a heart attack aged just 25 in 1998.
Family and friends held a funeral for the “bubbly” young father, but had no idea his heart had been removed and later stored 40 miles away from the Middlesbrough mortuary where his body was examined.
Both Cleveland Police and Northumbria Police are investigating. A Cleveland Police spokeswoman confirmed that specially trained officers are in the process of visiting the 13 families involved in their force area.