Latest news with #SarahStewart
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Air India crash widow is sent the remains of her husband in TWO coffins - as more horrors emerge following botched recovery of UK victims
Horrific new blunders in the operation to identify and repatriate victims of the Air India disaster emerged last night as the grim scandal began to widen. When one family unzipped the body bag shown to them at a mortuary, they were reportedly aghast to find two heads – one belonging to their relative, the other unrecognisable. And a distraught British widow received the remains of her husband in two coffins, delivered weeks apart, obliging her to cremate him twice. The heart-rending mix-ups were revealed as a lawyer representing about 30 of the 53 bereaved British families insisted flaws in the process were widespread, with more claims of relatives being given the wrong remains. While the fiasco has hitherto been blamed on the incompetence of Indian rescue workers and doctors, aviation law specialist Sarah Stewart says some responsibility lies with the team sent by the UK Government to assist them. 'Sadly, the stories of mixed remains have been repeatedly recounted to us by families we represent,' said Ms Stewart. 'Our clients feel that they were let down, with allegedly apparent mistakes by the forensic teams in India and insufficient support by British consular services, the Foreign Office and the British crisis response teams. We have been working with [British] families to prepare a letter to the Prime Minister to address these distressing errors.' On Wednesday, the Daily Mail revealed how the grief of two British families had been exacerbated by the botched operation. The following day, Sir Keir Starmer raised concerns with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi during his visit to London. Mr Modi is said to have agreed that this was extremely distressing for the families of the victims. A government spokesman said: 'Formal identification of bodies is a matter for the Indian authorities.' In one case, an unnamed family were told the wrong body had been returned. The error only emerged when a DNA match found by the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad was double-checked by scientists acting for Inner West London Coroner's Court. The lab also found the remains of microbiologist Shobhana Patel, 71, from Orpington in Kent, had been commingled in the coffin with those of an unknown victim. Indian scientists had identified Mrs Patel – who was travelling back to London on Air India Flight 171 with her husband, Ashok, 74 – using DNA supplied by her son, Miten. That his mother's remains had to be separated from the other person's before she could be cremated in a Hindu ceremony this week has deepened his family's trauma. He said: 'People were tired and there was a lot of pressure, but there has to be a level of responsibility that you're sending the right bodies to the UK. There's a lot of anger and frustration.' For Miten, poignant consolation has come with the return of a ring his father was wearing. He is sure it would have been on the hand clutching his mother's as the plane crashed and will wear it in their memory. How the mistakes happened is now under severe scrutiny. Since 81 of the 242 on board the aircraft had the surname Patel, there are suggestions this may have caused confusion. But Mahnendra Patel, 54, who lost his mother, brother and nephew, pointed out every Patel also has another last name which acts as their 'bar code'. Instead he puts it down to a recovery operation that differed from those we see after disasters here. He added: 'They were taking relatives' DNA samples round the clock but they could only do about 15 or 20 tests a day, so the bodies were put in bags, marked with an identity code and stacked in the freezer.' It was when they unzipped one of these bags that a family found the two heads, according to the Times of India. When DNA tests threw up a positive match, relatives were asked to sign for their family members and be photographed with their assigned coffins, says Mahnendra. International emergency services specialists Kenyon then flew them to Britain. Checks in London have thankfully proved Mahnendra received his loved ones' remains. However, the Indian coroner's report said the three bodies would be intact, with his nephew's broken leg the only visible injury. But the British report lists multiple fractures and one of his mother's hands is missing. 'I don't blame them,' Mahnendra says. 'It's a Third World country, so you are going to get a bit of a mix up.'
Time of India
6 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Air India crash families in UK have ‘received the wrong bodies', say lawyers
LONDON/NEW DELHI: Some of the families of Britons killed in the June 12 Air India 171 crash in Ahmedabad have been sent wrong or commingled mortal remains, British lawyers acting for them told TOI. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Taking note of an earlier report on the issue by Daily Mail, the Indian govt has clarified that the victims were identified as per 'established protocols and technical requirements' and that they 'are continuing to work with the UK authorities on addressing any concerns related to this issue,' MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Wednesday. 'All mortal remains were handled with utmost professionalism and with due regard for the dignity of the deceased,' he added. 'Sadly, the stories of mistakes with mixed remains have been repeatedly recounted to us by families we represent,' Sarah Stewart, aviation partner at Stewarts, a law firm, told TOI. 'Our clients feel that they were let down, with allegedly apparent mistakes by the forensic teams in India and insufficient support by British consular services, the foreign office and the British crisis response teams for the families of those British citizens killed in the accident. ' Demetrius Danas, a specialist aviation law lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, which is also advising some families affected by the , told TOI some families have reported receiving remains not belonging to their loved ones. He said this raises 'serious questions around the recovery and repatriation process' and 'just adds to the hurt and pain they continue to face'. James Healy-Pratt, aviation partner at Keystone Law in the UK, which is representing around 20 families of victims, told TOI they 'expect PM Starmer to raise these serious issues with PM Modi this week in London. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The families deserve urgent answers and assurances about the whereabouts of their loved ones.' The identification of mortal remains and DNA matching was carried out by the Ahmedabad civil hospital. A UK govt spokesperson said: 'Formal identification of bodies is a matter for the Indian authorities.' However, allrepatriated remains are being independently investigated in line with UK processes, by the Inner West London Senior Coroner, based in Westminster in the UK. The coroner opened and adjourned her inquest into 12 deaths on July 9. Disaster victim identification experts from the UK have been deployed to Ahmedabad to support the UK's consular response and 'to understand in-country processes for victim identification, mortuary operations and support services', the UK govt said. Relatives of one victim had to abandon their funeral plans after being informed that their coffin contained the body of an unknown passenger rather than their family member, the Daily Mail reported. In another case, the 'commingled' remnants of more than one person killed in the crash were mistakenly placed in the same casket. They had to be separated before the funeral could go ahead, the Mail reported. The BBC spoke to a third person, Miten Patel, who said the coroner told him that 'other remains' were found in his mother Shobhana's casket. Both his mother and father, Ashok, were killed in the crash. "There has to be a level of responsibility that you're sending the right bodies to the UK,' he said. The bungled repatriation was uncovered when Inner West London senior coroner Prof Fiona Wilcox sought to verify repatriated Britons' identities by matching their DNA with samples provided by the families. Around 12 bodies have been repatriated to the UK so far. James Healy-Pratt of Keystone Law told the Mail: 'I've been sitting down in the homes of these lovely British families over the last month, and the first thing they want is their loved ones back. But some of them have got the wrong remains and they are clearly distraught over this. I think these families deserve an explanation. One family now has no one to bury because it was the wrong person in their casket. And if isn't their relative, the question is, who is it in that coffin?'
Associated Press
03-06-2025
- General
- Associated Press
Chief justice appoints judge to handle case against man accused of killing college student
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama Chief Justice Sarah Stewart on Tuesday used a new law to appoint a retired judge to handle the case against a man accused of the 2019 killing of a college student that drew national attention. The new law, calls the Speedy Trial Act, allows the chief justice to appoint visiting judges in order to get criminal cases to trial more quickly. Stewart appointed retired Macon County Circuit Judge Tom Young to handle the case of Ibraheem Yazeed who is accused of killing Aniah Blanchard. Yazeed has pleaded not guilty to capital murder charges. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall last month asked Stewart to make an appointment, writing that, 'our entire state has watched the repeated delays in this case with angst and frustration.' Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey also referred to the case while signing the legislation into law. Stewart in the appointment letter wrote that 'any delays in this case have not been attributable to the judges in the circuit, but rather to circumstances beyond their control.' However, she said she agreed that the interests of the public require the expeditious resolution of this case.' An appointed attorney for Yazeed did not immediately return an email seeking comment. Blanchard, a Southern Union State Community College student and stepdaughter of prominent UFC fighter Walt Harris, was last seen on Oct. 23, 2019, at an Auburn gas station. Her remains were discovered about a month later in a wooded area of Macon County.
Sydney Morning Herald
27-04-2025
- Lifestyle
- Sydney Morning Herald
Mother's Day gift ideas for 2025
Lifestyle With Mother's Day just around the corner, Sarah Stewart breaks down some of the best gifts for Mum this year.
BBC News
02-03-2025
- General
- BBC News
Community call-out for Somerset village wedding history
Villagers will be marking the VE Day anniversary this year by holding a wedding exhibition at their are on the hunt for information on any marriages at St Michael and All Angels Church in Stoke St Michael, church's safe was stolen 10 years ago and its register was set alight, meaning its records between 1995 and 2014 are missing. It is hoped the gaps can be Sarah Stewart said a couple got married the day before VE Day in 1945 at the church, and the wedding dress from that day will be on display. Ms Stewart, who is organising the event, said a bridesmaid dress from that wedding would also be added she had recently come into possession of her own mother's wedding dress from the 1950s, and wanted to do something special with the collection. Ms Stewart said she hoped people who got married in the period of the missing records would come and share their said: "We've got a beautiful little church, and it's got a lot of history, and unless you go and have a look around and find out these things... then you don't really know what's going on."As well as information on marriages, organisers want donations of mannequins and tailor's dummys for the event will take place from 31 May.
