The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Father demands answers over baby’s empty coffin
Fife man thought he’d buried his son 42 years ago – and now police are making inquiries
A Dunfermline man who buried his baby son 42 years ago has been devastated by the discovery that the coffin was empty.
Bruce Paton, 70, choked back tears as he described how he held what he believed to be Gary’s tiny casket in the car to the cemetery.
He now knows that Gary’s body was never in the coffin after it was exhumed and examined by Professor Sue Black from Dundee University.
“The coffin was on the front seat beside the driver, who had thrown his coat over it,” said Mr Paton.
“He passed the coffin to me and I was sitting there, holding it on my lap.
“It is shocking to then find out 42 years later that I was sitting in the car holding an empty coffin.”
It is not known what happened to Gary after he passed away on July 3 1975, having been born eight days previously with internal injuries and spent his short life in an incubator at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh.
Mr Paton said the same could have happened to other families, and said the situation could be on the scale of the Mortonhall ashes scandal.
Police Scotland is investigating the matter and a meeting is to be set up between Mr Paton’s former wife, Lydia Reid, who pressed for the exhumation, and the Minister for Public Health.
Mr Paton said: “They need to answer this, what have they done to my son?
“Dame Sue Black at Dundee University said at no time has there been a body in that coffin at all.”
Adding to Mr Paton’s grief is the fact he had chosen a burial site next to where his own grandad was laid to rest, because he did not want his son to be alone.
He said when the Mortonhall scandal was in the headlines, he told his wife: “I’m so glad that we buried our son next to his great-grandad to look after him.”
He added: “But when they opened the coffin, there was only a blanket, a baby’s hat and a cross.”
The empty coffin was buried at Saughton Cemetery in Edinburgh and the funeral was carried out by St Cuthbert’s Cooperative, which is now Scotmid Cooperative Funerals.
A spokesperson for the funeral director said: “As soon as we became fully aware of the serious concerns of Ms Reid regarding the funeral carried out 42 years ago by St Cuthbert’s Cooperative, now Scotmid Cooperative Funerals, we immediately informed Police Scotland.
“We also met with Ms Reid and close members of her family to offer our full support in what has been an extremely distressing situation for them.”
A Police Scotland spokesman said: “Following a civil case between NHS and a member of the public, Police Scotland has been made aware of the legal exhumation of a grave in Edinburgh.
“Information gathering and partner liaison is under way to allow an assessment of the circumstances to take place.”