20 January 2024 , 17:33
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Taxpayer-funded costs for compensating the families of morgue monster David Fuller’s victims could top £25million.
The hospital electrician is serving life in prison for murdering two women and abusing more than 100 corpses. And NHS bosses have reopened a compensation scheme amid fears many families did not know it existed. The scheme – set up by the Department of Health and Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, which employed Fuller – ran from December 2022 to June last year and resumed in December, to close at the end of April.
A legal source said: “£25million is the figure being spoken about, when all associated costs are taken in – including running the inquiry, legal fees, administration, legal costs and time and effort. It’s been a big task but a hugely important one to ensure justice for those impacted.” Most damages will be around £30,000 – with more for some families due to psychological trauma. The new window is for families that should but may not have had contact from the Trust in 2022.
Fuller was given a whole-life prison term in 2021 for the murders of Wendy Knell and Caroline Pierce (Sky UK)Gary Walker of Enable Law, one of seven firms representing victims, said “This is a great development for my clients and any other families affected who, for whatever reason, may not have been able to submit a claim before June 2023.”
The uncle of one woman abused by Fuller said: “Our compensation is close to being secured but that’s not the case for everyone. We just want it over. It’s been traumatic. Many families have had to have therapy as a result.” Fuller, 69, was jailed in 2021 after admitting murdering Wendy Knell, 25, and Caroline Pierce, 20, in Kent in 1987.
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He was caught after his DNA was found at the scenes – and when police raided his home, they found material showing him abusing the bodies of more than 100 females, aged nine to 100.
The first half of a public inquiry into Fuller’s crimes ended in November and highlighted “serious failings” at the Trust. The second is expected to look at mortuary practices across the country.