Fife has been drawn into the Edinburgh baby ashes scandal as it is alleged that at least one mother was wrongly informed there were no remains of her child.
Carol Howden has spoken of her devastation at being told there would be nothing left of her four-month-old son, John, who she lost to cot death in 1988.
However, she has learned that his ashes were scattered in the grounds of Dunfermline Crematorium. Her story was uncovered by a BBC Scotland investigation to be screened on Wednesday.
BBC Scotland Investigates: Scotland’s Lost Babies was prompted by revelations last December that for decades parents were told there would be no remains from cremations of babies at Edinburgh’s Mortonhall Crematorium, only to find out ashes had been secretly buried.
It claims that the scandal is more widespread than first thought, suggesting that whether parents receive their babies’ remains is a postcode lottery.
Carol, who no longer lives in Fife, was told by a funeral director there would be no ashes despite John weighing 22 pounds.
She said: “I said I don’t care, even if it’s the tiniest little pinch of salt, I don’t care. I need to have something.
“And he said there wouldn’t be, there wouldn’t be anything. There would be no ashes whatsoever.”
When told by BBC Scotland that John’s ashes had been dispersed in the crematorium grounds, she said: “What gave any stranger the right to decide what to do with my son’s ashes?”
Fife Council has apologised to Carol.
Bereavement services manager Liz Murphy told The Courier: “Our records at the time show that John’s ashes were scattered in the gardens at the crematorium which would normally be at the instruction of the funeral director.
“However, in accordance with legislation, we no longer hold the original application to verify this and we can only apologise to Ms Howden if this has not been done in accordance with her wishes.”
*BBC Scotland Investigates: Scotland’s Lost Babies will be shown at 10.35pm on BBC One Scotland.