Fury and claims of racism over body mix-up

Having suffered the heartbreak of losing a loved one and endured the pain over the years, the last thing you want is to discover that the body you buried more than a decade ago was not of the one you lost.

It seems unthinkable and absurd but that is the case for Janet Alder, who thought she had buried her brother Christopher, who died in police custody, choking to death while handcuffed and lying on the floor of a police station in Hull in April 1998.

But it turns out the Alder family were given the body of a 77-year-old Nigerian woman instead of soldier Christopher. Grace Kamara died of natural causes in 1999 but her body had been kept in Hull mortuary and was set for burial last Friday.

But morticians arriving to remove Mrs Kamara's body from the mortuary discovered Mr Alder's body in its place. An investigation is now underway to find out how the mix-up happened.

For Janet Alder, the discovery strengthens her belief that racism played a part in her brother's death and the fact her family had been given the body of "any old Black person" is further proof of that.

Miss Alder said,

“They have just buried any old black person. From the word go, Christopher’s death has been linked to the colour of his skin, from his treatment at the police station to the way that he was handled in the morgue. They have obviously just said ‘We have got to bury a black person that must be him’. How else could they make that mistake if it wasn’t by looking at the colour of his skin?”

At the time of Christopher's death, there were allegations of racism after it was claimed police officers made monkey noises as he lay on the floor. In 2002, five officers were cleared of manslaughter and misconduct in public office but an Independent Police Complaints Commission report four years later said the officers had been guilty of "unwitting racism" and led to Humberside Police Chief Constable Tim Hollis apologised to the Alder family after the IPCC report "for our failure to treat Christopher with sufficient compassion and to the desired standard that night".

In March this year, Miss Alder lost a claim that CPS racially discriminated against her during her dealings with them after her brother's death. But Judge Penelope Belcher, sitting at Leeds County Court, said she shared concerns that racism played a part in Christopher's death.

In her judgment, she said,

“I understand and indeed share Miss Alder’s concerns as to the possibility that racial discrimination played some part in the actions of the police officers on the night that Christopher Alder died."

Hull City Council has apologised for the apparent mix-up and launched an inquiry.

Chief executive Nicola Yates said,

"On Friday 4 November 2011 I was made aware of a situation relating to the body of a man, who was in his late 30s, located in the city mortuary. The body lay in place of where Grace Kamara had been recorded as resting. At the moment I cannot explain this."

She added,

"I am appalled and distraught at what I have learned and in conjunction with Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust we will be undertaking a thorough review of the circumstances surrounding the events."

But friends of Mrs Kamara has hit out at the council for the mix-up and the disregard of the deceased. Christine Omoregie said the council had "deceived us and took us for fools. The council has treated us with no humanity".

Image: Chris Alder