A FUNERAL director took a baby’s body to her home and put him in a bouncer so he could “watch cartoons,” before the grieving mum walked in.
Amie Upton, 38, has now been banned from NHS maternity wards and mortuaries in Leeds after she kept babies’ bodies at her home.
Grieving mum Zoe Ward was left ‘screaming’ after she found out her dead son had been taken to Ms Upton’s home
Zoe’s baby boy Bleu died of brain damage when he was three weeks old
Ben LackFuneral director Amie Upton has been banned from NHS maternity wards and mortuaries in Leeds[/caption]
Ms Upton was barred in spring this year, according to the Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust.
A mum said she had been left “screaming” after she found out her dead son had been taken to Ms Upton’s home and put in a bouncer to “watch cartoons”.
Ms Upton has claimed she had only ever had two complaints in her eight years of running Florrie’s Army, her baby loss support and funeral service.
Zoe Ward gave birth to Bleu at Leeds General Infirmary in 2021 but he died of brain damage when he was three weeks old.
Zoe, 32, contacted Florrie’s Army to arrange his funeral, following a recommendation by a family friend.
The mum said she had spoken to Ms Upton and believed the service sounded “brilliant”.
Florrie’s Army said it supported bereaved parents and offered free handprints, photographs as well as baby clothing and a dedicated funeral service.
According to Florrie’s Army Facebook page, the organisation was set up by Ms Upton following her own daughter was stillborn in 2017.
Bleu’s body was picked up from the hospital by someone on behalf of Florrie’s Army, according to Zoe.
She added she had thought her son would be in a “professional setting”.
However, when she went round the following day, Zoe was “terrified” to see Ms Upton “watching” cartoons with her son’s body next to her in the living room in a baby bouncer.
Zoe told the BBC: “I realised it were Bleu and she [Ms Upton] says: ‘Come in, we’re watching PJ Masks.’
“There’s a cat scratcher in the corner and I can hear a dog barking and there was another [dead] baby on the sofa. It wasn’t a nice sight.
“I rang my mum and I’m saying, ‘This ain’t right’… I was screaming down the phone [saying]: ‘It’s mucky, it’s dirty, he can’t stay here.’”
Zoe’s mum then organised for another funeral director to collect Bleu’s body and he was taken out of Ms Upton’s care.
Zoe added: “I didn’t want him in that house,” adding she had been left “upset and angry” following the “weird” experience.
In England and Wales, the funeral industry in unregulated and there are no legal requirements regarding how and where bodies should be stored.
No qualifications are needed to set up as a funeral director.
The two main trade organisations, the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) and the National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF), follow a joint code of conduct, which states members must undergo regular inspections of their premises and procedures.
According to best practice, bodies should be kept in a clean and clinical environment at a temperature between 4-7C.
Membership is voluntary though and Ms Upton is not a member of either organisation.
A couple, named only by their aliases of Sharon and Paul, were introduced to Ms Upton by a family friend following their daughter was stillborn at St James’ hospital, also in Leeds, earlier this year.
The pair had agree to let Florrie’s Army take their daughter as Ms Upton had led them to believe the body was being kept at a funeral parlour in Headingley, until the day of the burial.
After more than a week, though, Ms Upton told them their daughter was at her house, five miles away from where they had expected her to be.
They said they had not given their consent for her to be taken there.
‘Sharon’ told the corporation: “I just didn’t know why she was there.”
The couple said they do not know how long their daughter’s body had been kept at Ms Upton’s home, but believe it had not been kept at the correct temperature, saying it was “really smelly, like she’d been in there and not kept cool”.
According to the BBC, Ms Upton is thought to have had a cold cot, fitted with electrical cooling pads in order to maintain lower temperatures, which she uses at her home and also lends out to families.
However, the BBC states it has seen evidence indicating that bodies in the care of Ms Upton have not always been kept in the cold cot.
The couple said that when they realised their baby was in Ms Upton’s house they drove across Leeds to bring her home and take her to another funeral director.
The mum said the situation was “crazy” and added that if she had told someone the story of what happened they would think it was like a “horror film”.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust said it only allowed bodies to be signed out from its mortuaries by authorised funeral directors.
Both Zoe’s and Sharon and Paul’s babies were signed out by Philip Gallagher form Gallagher Funeral Services, based in Headingley, one of the funeral directors authorised by the Trust.
He said he had had a “working relationship” with Ms Upton for five years, including “providing funerals for people’s loved ones that have sadly passed away”.
Mr Gallagher added: “We are aware that two families have raised concerns about the service she provides; however, it is our understanding that these concerns have been thoroughly investigated.”
However, according to the BBC, Mr Gallagher, whose business is not a member of NAFD or SAIF, did not respond to questions about how or why Sharon and Paul’s baby’s body had been moved from his Headingley parlour to Ms Upton’s house.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust said it has received “several serious concerns” about Ms Upton’s services in the past few years.
Rabina Tindale, Chief Nurse at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “Over the past few years we have received several serious concerns about services provided by Amie Upton.
“Given these concerns, and the fact that some families have believed services are linked to or supported by the Trust, we must be clear that neither Amie Upton or Florrie’s Army is endorsed by, or associated with, Leeds Teaching Hospitals.
“When we first became aware of concerns, we implemented extra steps in our mortuary services on top of our already robust measures.
“Since 2021 we have had specific safeguarding measures in place, including monitoring Amie’s attendance when visiting deceased patients at the mortuary in her funeral service role.
“Any visitors to the mortuary are always accompanied by mortuary staff.
“Any handover of a body is undertaken in line with Trust policies and procedures and takes place to an authorised funeral director.
“Actions were further strengthened this year, including Amie no longer being allowed to be present in our Maternity services unless as a patient herself.
“Over the past few years, our concerns have been raised with the police, external safeguarding services and relevant regulators.
“We support bereaved families during their most difficult times through tailored, compassionate and regulated services.
“We have dedicated staff, including bereavement midwives and nurses, who provide personalised support for bereaved mothers and their families.
“They always respect each family’s individual needs and wishes.”
West Yorkshire Police confirmed it had investigated two reports about Ms Upton’s funeral services since 2021, but added that following “extensive enquiries… no potential crimes were identified”.
A spokesperson for the force said: “Since 2021, we have received two reports alleging improper care provided by an infant funeral service in Harehills, Leeds.
“Detectives made extensive enquiries into both reports, exploring multiple legislative and regulatory avenues, including liaison with partners, to establish whether there were any criminal matters to investigate. No potential crimes were identified.
“We recognise the concerns raised by these two families will have added to the distress they felt during an already incredibly difficult time. Our thoughts remain with them.”
The Sun Online has contacted Ms Upton’s organisation Florrie’s Army.
Responding to the BBC, Ms Upton said she had only had two complaints in the eight years since Florrie’s Army had been established.
Several reviews of her services on Facebook are complimentary, with some families saying the services was “amazing” and “inspirational”.
SAIF funeral director George Roberts said bereaved families needed to know they were in “safe hands” and they deserved a professional service.
Mr Roberts, who has been in the family business in Scarborough for 40 years, added it was “wrong” that funeral directors did not need to be qualified.
He said: “[Anyone] could easily go online, design business cards, get them printed and put them through neighbour’s doors and sit back and wait for the phone to ring.”
In March, Scotland brought in a statutory code of conduct for funeral directors.
An inquiry in July gave a recommendation that statutory regulations should be introduced in England although the government has yet to respond.
A government spokesperson said: “Our thoughts remain with the grieving families affected by this awful situation.
“They rightly expected their children to be treated with dignity and respect.
“We are committed to taking action to ensure the highest standards are always met by funeral directors and are now considering the full range of options to improve standards.”
Zoe contacted Florrie’s Army to arrange her son’s funeral, following a recommendation by a family friend Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
