100 people whose deaths were investigated by police were buried with body parts missing - without the knowledge of their families.

The families of those affected over the past 25 years have only just been informed.

It has emerged that the organs or tissue of around 110 people whose deaths were the subject of police investigations were retained as evidence after post-mortem examinations.


Avon and Somerset Constabulary,  is the first police force to have completed investigations into the organs it has retained

But it is only in the last few weeks, following an internal investigation by Somerset's police force, that officers have visited relatives of the dead to break the news.

Some of those affected are angered by the delay. Marie Edwards, whose daughter Jazmine was buried without a heart, said that authorities should keep families informed.

'We should have consent and we should have awareness that this is happening,' she said. 'I don't understand why this is such a closed-door subject.'


The brains, hearts, and other tissue samples were from deaths prior to September 2006, when a change in the law meant that relatives had to be informed of any body parts that were retained.

Avon and Somerset Constabulary carried out an audit into organs that had been held as evidence, in line with a request made to all forces by the Association of Chief Police Officers at the end of last year.

ACPO said that Avon and Somerset was one of the first police forces to complete its audit and most other forces had not yet disclosed their findings.


Assistant Chief Constable Rod Hansen says that the families of all those whose tissue was retained by police had now been informed

Over a six-month period Avon and Somerset investigators examined paperwork and files relating to 1,079 cases, including murder and manslaughter inquiries.

Assistant Chief Constable Rod Hansen said that in about 10 per cent of those cases it was found tissue from crime victims had been retained. In each case, officers had visited relatives to discuss what to do with the body parts.

He said the cases mainly involved heart, brain and tissue samples that would have been examined after potentially suspicious deaths. Mr Hansen would not give further details, in order to avoid identifying individuals.

Tissue and body parts would have been held at various locations across the area and possibly the country, depending on what specialist tests needed to be carried out. The police force would not confirm where body parts were held or how they had been stored.

The Human Tissue Act, which provides guidelines for retaining and preserving human tissue, was passed in 2004 and came into force in September 2006.

It followed the interim report into the Bristol Heart Inquiry in 2000, which highlighted the issues of organ retention following the baby heart scandal of the 80s and 90s and included evidence of organ collections at other hospitals, including Alder Hey in Liverpool.

Under the act a legal framework was put in place demanding that families and next of kin be informed if organs or tissue had been retained for examination.

Samples taken by the police are not subject to the act's rules, but Mr Hansen said the force now used the act to guide how it dealt with all tissue it had retained.


Scandal: The Human Tissue Act was introduced following public outrage at the retention of organs in hospitals such as Alder Hey

Work started on the audit in January, with a team of officers working full-time, and now the police force is confident all affected families have been contacted.

He said that retaining organs as evidence was part of understanding what happened to individuals and ensuring that any perpetrators were held accountable.

Mr Hansen said: 'If there is a police investigation, the senior investigating officer would retain tissue under the police and criminal evidence act.

'There could be a trial, conviction or appeal, so there are time frames when it is justifiable to retain tissue.

'We are very confident, as much as we can be given the circumstances, that there are no further cases that we are aware of where there has been a forensic post-mortem over 25 years and tissue has been retained by one organisation or another.'

Post-mortem examinations are initially authorised by the coroner, who works with the police to establish the appropriate forensic investigations that need to be carried out.

Avon coroner Maria Voisin said: 'The rules are very tight now and it is very strictly controlled.

'Tissue taken in a post-mortem is evidence and has to be viewed in that way as well. It is very sensitive evidence and that is why this is being handled so sensitively.'

Family liaison co-ordinator Tim Copik said that if someone now becomes the victim of a suspected manslaughter or murder, officers discuss with relatives any body parts that have to be retained after a post-mortem examination.

Six pairs of family liaison officers visited families to talk to them about cases, having been given a package of information and established pertinent dates, such as birthdays and anniversaries, that they should avoid.

Mr Copik said that 20 per cent of those contacted asked for burials or cremation of the body parts, with the police paying for the caskets.