Give us justice, not cash, say families in baby ashes scandal

MOTHERS affected by the baby ashes scandal are set to turn down compensation offers and demand criminal charges against those responsible.

Grieving families in Glasgow have been offered payments after their babies’ ashes were not returned to them following cremation.

They have now been offered compensation of £1,000, £4,000 or £6,000 depending on the degree of suffering a psychiatric report attributes to the mishandling of their babies’ ashes.

But a group of parents are still fighting for ‘real justice’ from Glasgow City Council, saying that it matters more than cash.

Louise Chisholm, from Glasgow, lost her son Samuel in the womb while his twin brother Jack, now four, survived.

The 32-year-old remembers her shock and devastation when she was told by her funeral director that staff at Daldowie Crematorium said nothing remained of Samuel.

Miss Chisholm was offered £6,000 in September, and families have been given a December 20 deadline to accept or decline their compensation offers. But Miss Chisholm wants legal action against the council instead.

She has the full support of Thompsons, the law firm representing hundreds of parents all over Scotland who were denied the ashes of their miscarried, stillborn and neonatal babies.

Patrick McGuire, a partner in the firm, said that in his view crimes had been committed. Former Lord Advocate Dame Elish Angiolini interviewed hundreds of parents all over Scotland who had been denied their babies’ ashes in the 15 years to 2013. Her report is still being considered by the Crown Office.

Miss Chisholm feels the council has tried ‘to bully and manipulate’ families into settling early. She said: ‘We felt it was cynical of the council to set a deadline of December 20 to accept the offer. How many families don’t feel they could do with some extra money just before Christmas?

‘People treated our babies’ ashes like rubbish, and lied to us. Money won’t make my anger vanish.

‘Like many other mums, I was left with nothing to keep, or no chance to scatter ashes at a special place to remember my baby.’

Mr McGuire highlighted the practice at Hazlehead Crematorium in Aberdeen, where babies were routinely cremated with unrelated adults, with all the ashes being given to the adult’s family. The babies’ families were told no ashes remained.

He said: ‘It would be very difficult to see how that did not breach the criminal law, and we need the Crown Office to confirm that charges will follow because this was devastating for families already dealing with profound grief.

‘They wanted answers, they wanted changes in practice and they wanted people who had broken the law to answer for it.’

The Crown Office is still considering Dame Elish’s report and has not ruled out criminal charges. Glasgow City Council declined to comment.

‘Bullying families to settle early’