POLICE have publicly apologised at the end of a two-year inquiry into mistakes which saw a Plymouth family cremate the wrong woman.

On April 5, 2007, The Herald revealed the tragic mis-identification of the bodies of two women from Plymouth, one of whom was Mrs Mary Hoctor aged 84 years. Both women had died at a nursing home in the city on the March 17, 2007.

Since the incident a comprehensive review has been conducted involving all the agencies that came into contact with the two bodies.

The families involved in this tragic case have worked with HM Coroner and the police service in that review, which has identified that procedures although in place were not strictly followed.

The procedures for dealing with sudden and unexpected deaths have been further scrutinised and amended to include the lessons learnt from this case which will prevent the reoccurrence of such an incident.

Chief Superintendent Webster, Plymouth Commander said: “I have met with members from the two families on several occasions and I have expressed my regret that procedures were not followed.

"I have clearly stated to the family that I am sorry for the anguish that has been caused. The police and the other organisations involved have learnt some valuable lessons from this case"

"I would like to thank the family members that have taken part in this review for assisting us in the process"

The family of Mrs Hoctor have stated that "They are satisfied with the police inquiry and the procedures that have now been put into place."

In April 2007 Mrs Hoctor's family told The Herald of their heartbreak after their elderly mother was cremated in the wrong coffin and at the wrong crematorium.

The error was discovered when a member of Mrs Hoctor’s family went to pay her last respects to her in the chapel of repose – only to discover the elderly woman in the coffin was not her mother.

In fact, Mrs Hoctor had been cremated just hours earlier.

Pauline Wise, the oldest of Mrs Hoctor’s seven daughters and one son, said: “It is tragic that she was cremated in the wrong place, in the wrong coffin, by the wrong family.”

Mrs Hoctor died peacefully at about 8.30am on Saturday, March 17, at Down House Nursing Home in Derriford, Plymouth.

She had been suffering from heart trouble, and had spent four weeks in the home receiving respite care.

Another elderly woman – who has not been identified – died in the same home within 10 minutes. The police and a Coroner’s officer were called.

A police CID officer was also called to the scene, but was satisfied that the timing of the two deaths was a coincidence.

One of Mrs Hoctor’s daughters and a nurse at the home identified her body before both bodies were collected by a contractor working for Plymouth’s coroner.

It is understood that responsibility for establishing the identity of a dead person lies with the police officer called to the scene, who tags the body.

When the coroner’s contractor collects the body, his duty is to double-check the identity and the tag.

Pauline said: “The paperwork was carried out by the police officer who was in the room with us, and we naturally assumed all the necessary procedures had been followed.

“We were told that Mum had died peacefully but might require a post-mortem; as a family we said that if we had a choice we did not want this for her.

“We phoned the Coroner’s office the following Monday afternoon and were told no post-mortem was needed and that we could go ahead and make funeral arrangements and register the death.”

The funeral was arranged for March 27, 2007, at St Mary’s Church in Tamerton Foliot where Pauline lives, followed by cremation at Weston Mill crematorium.

Pauline added: “Mum strongly disliked Efford crematorium. Her ashes would then be buried in our gran and grandad’s grave in St Mary’s alongside the ashes of our father Joe, who died 10 years ago.”

The day before Mrs Hoctor’s funeral, relatives went to the chapel of repose to pay their last respects.

Pauline said: “When one of our sisters and cousins who came over from Ireland went to see her, they discovered the body in the coffin was not our mum.

“We were all called into the funeral parlour and had to accept the devastating news that our mum had already been cremated that afternoon at Efford crematorium, and with no church service held.

“The funeral parlour staff were excellent and did everything in their power to help us.

“We then had to wait around while the other lady was officially identified.”

The family also later discovered that Mrs Hoctor had undergone a totally unnecessary post-mortem.

The following day the family went to church, where the undertaker and the vicar organised a small service to help the family come to terms with their loss.

The other bereaved family, who are not known to Pauline or her siblings, kindly returned Mrs Hoctor’s ashes via the funeral director.

Pauline added: “Our mother was a very private, dignified person who, with our father, worked hard and made a great job of bringing up eight children.

“It is tragic that she was cremated in the wrong place, in the wrong coffin, by the wrong family. It is very hard for us not to be able to carry out and fulfil her last wishes.

“It’s like dropping a pebble into a pool – from that one mistake, ripples have gone out in all directions.

“We are a large strong, family, which has helped us to get through this, but we have to get justice for our mother.

“We are not seeking financial compensation, but we want the whole circumstances to be fully investigated.

“We want the truth to come out and procedures put in place to ensure that this can never happen again to any other family.”

James Sutherland, owner of Down House Nursing Home, said: “We know who our patients are and what they look like.

“This is not our fault at all.”

Stephen Ware, managing director of Walter C Parson funeral directors which dealt with both funerals, said: “We feel very sorry indeed for the families involved in this case of mistaken identity.

“However, we must emphasise that the mistake occurred before we became involved and unfortunately was not recognised before the cremation of the first lady had taken place.

“Both ladies were initially identified to us with the wrong names at the point where we became involved.

Until October 2006, local funeral directors worked a rota system to provide a duty undertaker service to the Coroner’s office.

Since then, the work has been done full-time by a private contractor.