GRIEVING parents rocked by revelations that their dead children’s organs have been kept at Southampton Hospital for years are demanding to know how many families are affected.

Dorset Police, the Association of Chief Police Officers and the hospital are refusing to reveal the number of cases in the ongoing scandal.

As revealed in the daily Echo, a series of Dorset parents have told of their horror after officers knocked on their doors to break the news.

Lisa Burton, from Sturminster Newton, found out her three-year-old daughter Zoe’s brain had been in storage since 1997.

“My understanding was they thought there was about 40 individual cases, but I would not have a clue how far they were through visiting people,” she said.

“As far as I was concerned, they had not finished.

“I suppose when they told me that it did make me feel a bit better that I was not the only one: 39 other people were going through this too.

“Then I was angry and upset.”

Officers told her it was part of an audit, due to finish in March.

Linda Trott, from Hamworthy in Poole, is seeking legal action after learning her six-year-old son Steven’s brain was taken in the same year.

Mrs Trott said: “It does make me angry. I don’t know why they aren’t saying the number.”

Cathy Franklin, whose son Ryan died at Southampton, is calling for a public inquiry into the matter.

She has never found out what happened to Ryan’s eyes, spinal cord and brain.

“I believe we should be told the number,” Cathy said. “I don’t think the police want to commit themselves to a figure because there may be more findings.

“I think it’s going to be a lot more.”

“The hospital is trying to say it’s not our fault, so are the police, coroner and pathologists. It goes round in a big circle and no one wants to be held accountable A public inquiry is the only way to go because we’ll get no answers otherwise.”

• Have you been affected by this? Contact the Echo’s newsdesk on 01202 411293 or email the newsdesk at newsdesk@bournemouthecho.co.uk

The poloce audit

ACPO is co-ordinating an audit of human tissue previously retained as part of suspicious death and homicide cases.

ACPO lead on forensic pathology, Deputy Chief Constable Debbie Simpson, said: “Following a suspicious or unexplained death, the police routinely use powers to retain material taken from bodies at post mortem examinations.

“Samples are retained as part of the investigation to establish cause of death and for evidential purposes such as toxicology examination.

“In some cases material is retained for significant periods both as a requirement of the criminal investigation and in order to fulfil legal requirements.

“In April 2010, the Human Tissue Authority informed NHS and local authority mortuaries that it would be auditing post mortem samples retained by them.

“While samples held by police for the prevention, detection or prosecution of crime do not by law fall under the HTA, ACPO is co-ordinating an audit of human tissues in historical suspicious death and homicide cases among all UK police forces, to establish the current situation in terms of police holdings.

“The audit will allow us to identify and consider the most appropriate way of sensitively dealing with tissue no longer needed for criminal justice purposes.”

• One mum who was desperate to know if organs from two of her sons had been retained was relieved to find out they had not been affected by the scandal.

Serena Hurst, from Southbourne, had a stillborn son, Callum, in August 1999 and lost her son Conor, below, to cot death in December 2001.

Both babies were sent for post mortems and, while Serena, 31, was not sure where Callum went, Conor was definitely taken to Southampton General Hospital.

She called Dorset Police who agreed to contact the hospital for her and, after a tense few days, eventually discovered on Friday the babies were not affected.

Serena said she is pleased she made the call, but is relieved she can now get on with her life.

She added: “I now know that it was nothing to do with them.

“But I couldn’t have just spent the rest of my life wondering if their organs had been taken.”