A mum will finally lay her baby boy to rest after a major probe by prosecutors dismissed claims she was given an empty coffin to bury almost 50 years ago.
Lydia Reid, from Clermiston, Edinburgh, has been fighting for answers since her son Gary died at just a week old in 1975 report the Record.
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When his coffin was exhumed five years ago, a renowned forensic expert concluded it was buried without human remains.
Now the result of a major investigation by the Crown has concluded that Gary was in the grave, claiming there was no criminality or evidence of unlawful organ retention.
Lydia is disputing the result but has finally been able to plan a funeral for her son later this month after the conclusion of the investigation prompted the release of body parts and the contents of his coffin.
She said: “I just want him buried and to have what every other person in the world has a right to - a burial ceremony.”
The mum-of-three, a leading figure in the Scottish push to expose how hospitals had unlawfully retained dead children’s body parts for research, has always maintained that a body she was shown after her son’s death wasn’t Gary’s.
She believes he suffered complications of having the blood group rhesus positive and underwent a procedure which left him brain damaged at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh.
In 2017 she was granted a court order for an exhumation which recovered a shawl, a hat, a cross and a name tag within the disintegrated coffin - but no skeletal remains and no sign of decomposition.
Forensic anthropologist Prof Dame Sue Black examined the items and concluded “only one possible logical explanation” - that the coffin was buried without remains.
The Crown Office launched an investigation and the mum has been locked in a legal battle to have blocks and slides containing parts of her son’s organs taken at post mortem to be returned to her for a burial at Saughton Cemetary.
The Crown finally returned its report in recent weeks.
But Lydia, who is terminally ill, said she was then faced with the prospect of having her son’s remains, coffin and contents withheld even longer while a review is carried out.
Now, with the help of her MSP, Labour’s Foysol Choudhury, she has been notified that they will be released. But the MSP has raised questions over how long the process to lay Gary to rest has taken.
Lydia said: “When they told me they were keeping all this stuff and I wasn’t going to be able to have his funeral during a review I was just heartbroken.
“It’s not just the blocks and slides, they were threatening to keep hold of the coffin and the contents inside, like the shawl I got from my mum for Gary. That to me was one of the most important things.
“I had to choose and I didn’t want to choose.
“I’m unsure how much time I’ve got. I certainly don’t have the years that the appeal could take. But my MSP Foysol Choudhury has been amazing and fought this tooth and nail.
“He managed to get them to agree to me being allowed to have a review and agree to me getting Gary’s things back on time for a funeral.
“That will go directly back to the undertaker.
“I can now go in the grave alongside Gary, which will bring me peace.”
Lydia says she will now ask Dame Sue Black to review the evidence provided by the Crown.
Foysol Choudhury MSP said: “I am glad that Lydia, Gary and the family are finally getting the burial for Gary that they deserve.
“However, this has taken far too long and Lydia has had to face many difficulties along the way.
“When something as tragic as the death of a baby happens, Scotland should be ensuring that families are given the compassion and care that they deserve.
“Instead, Lydia has been left battling for over 40 years to get answers to her questions and, recently, to get Gary’s remains back from the Crown Office and NHS so that he can finally be laid to rest.
“Lydia was thankfully given a concession in her case and the Crown Office agreed to transfer Gary’s items back to Lydia, whilst still leaving the option of a victim’s right to review open to her.
“However, like Lydia, I am concerned that other families are being put in the same predicament and feel like they are being held to ransom.
“I am committed to helping both my constituent, Lydia, and other affected families across Scotland, get justice for their loved ones and hopefully gain peace through being reunited with their loved one’s remains.”
Lindsey Miller, Deputy Crown Agent at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said: “The investigation by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) into the birth, death and burial of Gary Paton has now concluded.
“COPFS hope that the completion of the investigation provides comfort and reassurance to Ms Reid and to the family of Gary Paton who suffered a devastating loss and our thoughts remain with them.”
“This has been an extensive and thorough multi-agency investigation which included independent scientific reviews and examinations from a wide range of specialities.
“All independent experts were consistent in concluding evidence indicated that Gary was buried, and that there was no criminality or evidence of unlawful organ retention identified.
“COPFS was responsible for undertaking the investigation to establish the facts of this matter and provide Ms Lydia Reid with answers sought.
“The Lord Advocate has offered to meet Ms Reid in person to answer any questions that she may have and discuss the conclusion of this investigation.”
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A Police Scotland spokeswoman added: “Extensive enquiries were carried out over a long period of time with a dedicated team of officers working closely with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to find answers for the family.
“We acknowledge the decision by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and hope this outcome brings some closure to Gary’s family.”
Dr Tracey Gillies, Medical Director at NHS Lothian, said: “We are aware that the Crown Office investigations have come to a close. As always, our thoughts remain with Gary’s family.”
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