'Cremated' father turns up on TV (someone dropped the f'n ball)

'Cremated' father turns up on TV

A man has been reunited with his father after spotting him on television - five years after he thought he was cremated.

John Renehan's father John Delaney went missing in 2000 and when a decomposed body matching his description was found in 2003 he was identified by a coroner.

But it has emerged that Mr Delaney, 71, of Oldham, had actually been put in a care home after being found wandering around the town with memory loss.

Police admitted "mistakes were made" in the identification process.

When Mr Delaney was found in 2000 in a confused state in Copsterhill Road he was unable to give any clues about his identity.

He was given the name "David Harrison" and placed in the care home where he stayed for eight years.

Son on finding 'dead' father

His family reported him as missing but appeals failed to uncover information about his whereabouts.

The body of a man, which had similar clothes and historic wounds to Mr Delaney, was found in the grounds of Manchester Royal Infirmary in January 2003.

It was identified as Mr Delaney and a funeral was held.

More than five years after the cremation service, Mr Renehan, from Didsbury, saw a television appeal about finding the family of the man in the care home, who he recognised as his father.

Asked how he felt when he saw him on the BBC Missing Live programme, Mr Renehan said: "I knew straight away that was my dad."

The 42-year-old rang the programme after the episode in April.

He added: "I think they thought I was some nutcase. That's when I told them I thought I buried my father in 2003."

Mr Renehan then contacted the police, who asked him a series of questions before DNA tests confirmed their relationship.

"I must admit I'm not happy about the whole scenario. Somebody has got to take responsibility for their actions."

Mr Renehan said his father is suffering from total amnesia, but he is now spending time with him to try and rebuild their relationship.

"I've been bringing pictures in, trying to bring his memory back and things are starting to click.

"But also the thing that keeps popping up into my mind is this other person who I cremated. We're still waiting for answers really."

In a statement, Greater Manchester Police said the identification mix-up was a matter for the coroner, who is no longer in the post.

But the force said there was no suspicious circumstances surrounding the discovery and that DNA testing was not routinely used at that time.

A spokesperson said: "Greater Manchester Police accepts that mistakes were made and that Mr Delaney's family has been through a traumatic ordeal."

It said that inquiries in 2003 to establish the unknown man's identity were "not sufficient".

"At that time, only paper records of people reported missing from home existed," the spokesperson added.

"Today, Greater Manchester Police has advanced systems in place to ensure that mistakes of this nature are not made and robust checks are made to establish the identity of people who cannot immediately confirm who they are."

The spokesperson said the officer who dealt with the case in 2000 had since retired from the force.

An investigation is under way to try to establish the identity of the man cremated in 2003.

BBC NEWS | UK | England | Manchester | 'Cremated' father turns up on TV

My god, that poor man and his poor family! Someone dropped the ball big time *coroner* *cough*

If I was that family I would be livid! I'm against sue happy people but fuck, I would sue!

reb you always find some of the most interesting stories...hopefully the guys dad can start to remember his son. what a wierd experience

Aww thanks hun. I'm glad you and the others like my news threads. I always hope my threads catch all of younz guys's interests.

And your right, that has to be extremely stressful for the family. That's an event that doesn't happen every day.

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Originally Posted by rebgirl420

[B][SIZE="5"]He was given the name "David Harrison" and placed in the care home where he stayed for eight years.

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Is that a UK equivilent of "John Doe" or do they just not care about identifying unknown people with random names - making it much more difficult to search for missing people.

And also the body found was misidentified...

Alzheimer's isn't supposed to be contagious!

Maybe the guy who makes up the names was in the john?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rebgirl420

Maybe the guy who makes up the names was in the john?

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lol