Chris Green MP has championed justice for local mother, Janine Aldridge. After the death of her daughter Leah in 2002, human tissue samples were retained by Greater Manchester Police (GMP). Despite assurances that all tissue samples had been returned, due to later discussions, Janine had to have two further funerals.
In 2017, months after Ms Aldridge held a second funeral for her daughter and following GMP’s reassurances that no further organs had been found, GMP informed Ms Aldridge that more samples of her daughter’s organs had been retained. Ms Aldridge subsequently held a third burial for her daughter.
Mr Green hoped that raising this matter in the House of Commons would prompt further investigation locally into Ms Aldridge’s case but unfortunately, this has not happened, due to a lack of communication between the highest levels of policing within Greater Manchester.
Mr Green has once again raised Ms Aldridge’s case in the House of Commons. He asked the Minister of State for Policing: “I would like to thank my RHF on behalf of my constituent, Janine Aldridge, for his work in looking into concerns over the retention of human tissue.
“On behalf of Ms Aldridge, I wrote to the Mayor of Greater Manchester on the 17th July 2017, raising concerns over the retention of her daughter’s tissue samples, which has led to the family having held three separate funerals.
“I was recently disappointed to receive a letter from the Chief Constable of GMP, which indicated that they have not undertaken a formal investigation into her complaint and were unaware that this was expected, despite Ms Aldridge meeting with the Mayor and his Deputy.
“Would my RHF urgently investigate this matter, to ensure that the Aldridge family have the confidence that they have finally laid Leah to rest and ensure that this never happens again?”
Following the question, Mr Green added: “It is clear that there has been a significant lack of communication between the Mayor of Greater Manchester and GMP, which has led to Ms Aldridge’s complaint not being investigated, contrary to her instruction.
“This is absolutely appalling, and I will continue to work on the behalf of Ms Aldridge and her family to ensure that she gets the answers she needs to bring this awful ordeal to an end.”
It is suspected that over 180 families in Greater Manchester have been affected in cases similar to Ms Aldridge’s.
Ms Aldridge still has no confidence that all of her daughter’s organs have been accounted for.
