"After Losing My Baby in Just 11 Minutes, I Found Comfort in My Funeral Director Friend's Gesture—But Now I'm Uncertain About the Ashes"

CORRINNE Boulton had trusted her lifelong friend to take care of her baby boy’s funeral, but instead, she robbed her of a chance to say goodbye.

Her baby Albie, was just one of the 46 bodies that the evil undertakers had heartlessly left to decompose in an unrefrigerated room.

Corrinne Boulton’s lifelong funeral director friend robbed her of the last chance to say goodbye to her sonCredit: Solent Albie was born at 21 weeks in June 2023 but died after just 11 minutes. He’s pictured here with Corrinne before he passed awayCredit: Solent

Cradling her tiny baby tightly in her arms, the pain etched on Corrinne’s face was unbearable.

Her little boy Albie had only been alive for 11 short minutes and this was the last time she would get to hold him in her arms.

But at least she felt some comfort thinking his final journey would be handled with care and dignity.

After all, the woman arranging the funeral wasn’t just any old , it was her , who Corrinne trusted implicitly.

“I regret that I didn’t cuddle him closer,” says Corrinne.

“I just wanted to absorb everything about him. We had 11 minutes of just completely taking him in. It was a miracle that we even got that. It was a precious time.

Corrinne, from Gosport, in , first met Bell while they were both studying at South Downs College in Waterlooville, Hants, in the 2000s.

Over the years that followed, the pair spoke regularly and would meet up for drinks and to go dancing.

When Corrinne’s baby sadly passed away after being born with it was Bell who she turned to.

“I was completely distraught after losing my son and feeling really poorly as I was suffering from myself, but Hayley said she would take care of the so that I didn’t need to worry about anything,” she says.

Stay-at-home mum Corrinne, who has three children from her first , had been diagnosed with – a common bacteria found in the gut during pregnancy.

“My consultant doctor told me that it would be treated with an injection when the baby was born,” says Corrinne. “But I knew he could be extremely premature.”

She told me not to worry and said she was looking after him. I felt secure knowing that a friend was with him

Albie was born at 21 weeks in June 2023, weighing just 379g – he tragically passed away after contracting Strep B.

“The whole family was completely heartbroken,” says Corrinne. “When Hayley came and collected Albie’s body from the hospital, she was so sympathetic.

“She told me not to worry and said she was looking after him. I felt secure knowing that a friend was with him.”

‘I was too distraught to think straight’

Unbeknown to Corrinne, Bell and her partner Richard Elkin of Elkin and Bell Funeral Directors were heavily in debt and running an insolvent .

They owed in the region of £13,000 in unpaid rent and electricity, and had multiple outstanding County Court judgements, but continued to take on new clients.

The day before Albie’s funeral on July 12, 2023, Corrinne went with her husband Sam, to see the casket and hold Albie one more time.

“I knew there might be natural changes,” she says.

“But I didn’t care. He was my baby, and this was my last chance to hold him and say goodbye properly.

Hayley Bell has now been jailed for four years for letting bodies rot in her funeral homeCredit: PA Her partner Richard Elkin was also locked upCredit: PA The funeral directors failed to give people a proper goodbyeCredit: PA

“But Bell wouldn’t let me. At that point, I wasn’t really suspicious; I was too distraught to think straight.”

The funeral and cremation went ahead as planned. It was only when the High Court bailiffs entered their premises on December 10, 2023, to repossess the property on behalf of the landlord due to non-payment of rent that they made a horrifying discovery.

They found the rotting bodies of two elderly men in an unrefrigerated room at the back of the premises. There was water leaking through the ceiling and a pungent and unpleasant smell.

When the investigated the case further it emerged that a total of 46 bodies had been kept in conditions as warm as 15C (59F), when they should have been stored at 4C (39F), between June 2022 and December 2023.

‘Bodies crawling with maggots’

Some of the bodies were crawling with maggots and had “fly pupae” in the bags.

Others had “extensive development of mould” and the mortuary had a “horrific smell of dead bodies”.

One body, found during the visit in December 2023 had been left for 36 days and was by then in a badly decomposed condition.

We’ve got this lovely, beautiful urn. But I’m not even sure if the ashes belong to Albie

The other was that of an elderly gentleman whose family believed he had been cremated.

Elkin was also found to have faked a professional licence, which he displayed in the reception.

The mortuary register said that Albie’s body was brought in on the 5th of June 2023 and remained on the premises until 13 July. However, on 6 July, Environmental Health officials attended the premises and noted that there were no bodies in the mortuary at all, begging the question of the whereabouts of the baby’s body on that particular day.

“I have no idea what actually happened to my baby,” says Corrinne.

“We’ve got this lovely, beautiful urn. But I’m not even sure if the ashes belong to Albie.

“I know ashes would’ve been burnt away, but I think, what else is in there?

“Were there flies that were in there who were incinerated with him?”

Unbeknown to Corrinne, Bell and her partner Richard Elkin were heavily in debt and running an insolvent businessCredit: Solent We’ve got this lovely beautiful urn. But I’m not even sure if the ashes belong to Albie, says CorrinneCredit: Solent

“I want to know where she put my baby. Why did she lie?

“If Albie went through it then I need to know about it. Mummy needs to know. I don’t think we will ever be at peace with this.

“I know what has happened with some of the other families. It’s deplorable and despicable. I was friends with her for 23 years and was always under the belief that she treated everyone with the utmost respect.

“Thank God this has all been uncovered. I’d love to write her a letter and say, ‘Give me the horrible truth so I can process it’.”

Last month, both concurrently for preventing lawful burial, intentionally causing a public nuisance, and fraud at Crown Court.

Speaking after the case, Assistant Chief Constable Tony Rowlinson said it was “one of the worst betrayals I have ever seen in my policing career”.

Meanwhile, Corrinne, who went on to have a baby girl in April 2024, is still searching for answers.

“There still isn’t closure. When you’ve got unanswered questions there isn’t going to be any closure. It feels like that chapter is done but it’s not done for our family.

“What did you do with Albie? Just tell me the truth.