MP demands justice for grieving family denied "final goodbye" to son after tragic car crash
Stuart Anderson MP has renewed his support for a local family which was denied access to their son's body after he died in a tragic collision in 2023.
Joe Baker, who grew up in the South Shropshire village of Purslow near Craven Arms, sadly lost his life in the collision in Somerset on 27th November 2023.
He was a 20-year-old Royal Navy aircraft engineer who was enroute to the Royal Naval Air Station in Yeovilton when the devastating event took place.
Mr Baker's family have bravely spoken out about being denied access to him for ten days until he was transferred to undertakers. Following the tragic event, Mr Baker was taken to a 'closed mortuary' in Taunton.
Family members were not given access until ten days later, when he was transferred to the undertakers. The family has said that the ten-day wait was "excessive" and resulted in "agonising anguish", which they hope to prevent more families from having to experience.
The family has added they were not event told a date or time they would bring him home. The family have since learnt that the post-mortem was completed on 29th November, which was just two days after Joe's tragic death.
The family have launched a petition, calling for legislative change to ensure that further families have "immediate access to their deceased loves ones."
Setting out their request in the petition, the family have said: "We ask everyone to join us in our cause, ensuring no family has to endure the additional sorrow of being denied a final goodbye."
The family are looking for a change in the law so that a person's next of kin can visit a mortuary as soon as they request it. They have said that this would avoid further families from having to go through the untold stress of wondering what has happened to their loved one.
In December 2024, Stuart requested an urgent review of protections to ensure that more families do not go through the same ordeal.
However, a government response issued in March stated The Human Tissue Authority (HTA) does not require mortuaries to allow families to view their deceased relatives.
Patient Safety Minister Baroness Merron said: "there is no current work to make legislative changes to require mortuaries to allow families to visit the decreased when requested."
Stuart is now seeking to explore opportunities to find out why this is the case, given the family's situation.
Stuart Anderson MP said: "Mrs Baker continues to bravely campaign for a change in law, having gained more signatories to standardise visiting practices in mortuaries. I believe that this is a moral issue which can achieve cross-party support.
"Grieving families should always be treated with the dignity and respect that they deserve, and to be able to spend time with their loved ones.
"So, I am concerned that Ministers have ruled out any changes to make this possible. I hope that work on this issue will soon be activated so that parents like Mrs Baker and their families can access the justice that they deserve."
