Body mix-up scandal: A test of leadership

It comes with the territory and every leader should be prepared for it. Some even have training in handling it. But when it happens, many organisations and their leaders become like rabbits trapped in the headlights.

I’m talking about when a story breaks that puts organisations under the most intense media scrutiny and pressure. The type of story that causes public shock, anger, even revulsion, and prompts a media “feeding frenzy”. The type of story that leads to extreme reputational damage, litigation, resignations, sackings ... even arrests.

Just such a story erupted in Hull yesterday (Sunday, 6th November) when the BBC locally revealed that the body of a 77-year-old woman was apparently buried in 2000, instead of that of Christopher Alder, 37, who had died in police custody.

Just two days earlier, Mr Alder’s body had been discovered in the mortuary at Hull Royal Infirmary 11 years after he was supposed to have been laid to rest following a funeral attended by scores of mourners.

And it gets worse. Today (Monday, 7th November) the Hull Daily Mail carried interviews with the outraged sister of Mr Alder and friends and relatives of Mrs Kamara. Incredibly, the scandal was only exposed on the day of Mrs Kamara’s funeral as family and friends gathered to pay their respects. When family members insisted on seeing the body, so that they could dress it according to Nigerian custom, they were told the remains were missing. Soon after, it became apparent that Mr Alder’s body was in the mortuary, in the place where Mrs Kamara’s should have been. It is now assumed that Mrs Kamara’s body was buried instead of Mr Alder’s back in 2000.

The paragraph above is worth re-reading. Yes, it seems that the body of a 77-year-old woman was buried instead of that of a 37-year-old man. Yes, the body of a man who died in intensely controversial circumstances in police cells amid claims of racism has remained in a local authority mortuary for 11 years, unknown to his loved ones. Yes, it is possible that a funeral might have taken place without a body, had the family of Mrs Kamara not insisted on seeing her remains.
It is the most astonishing and deeply shocking series of revelations that defy explanation, even comprehension. As so many people have commented, it beggars belief.

The revelations thrust Hull City Council chief executive Nicola Yates into an intense public spotlight. She is known to be uncomfortable with media attention but, to her credit, she fronted up.

She appeared for the cameras outside the Guidhall council offices yesterday to say she was “appalled and distraught” by the events and to pledge a thorough review of what had happened. She was sombrely dressed and read from a statement carefully and respectfully. She was right to appear - a faceless statement would have seemed heartless - but the statement seemed a little short on regret or apology.

The statement was, at best, a holding position and would never have been sufficient to address the understandable bewilderment and anger of the families. It needed firmer action and that came today with Humberside Police Chief Constable Tim Hollis announcing a criminal investigation into the matter.
Expressing his sympathy for the families of Mr Alder and Mrs Kamara, Mr Hollis also announced that the investigation would be conducted by officers from the South Yorkshire force - a sound decision given the history of the Alder case.

So now the inquiry into this appalling state of affairs is not just a matter of what went wrong, and who might be disciplined internally as a result, but a question of who might face arrest and possible prosecution. In the circumstances, quite right too.

The police intervention does not in any way diminish the terrible events, or their impact on two families and their friends, but it does indicate the authorities are treating the matter with the required gravity.

It was also quite right that Ms Yates met today with Mr Alder’s sister Janet and a friend of Mrs Kamara, Christine Omoregie. They deserve to meet with the most senior official at the local authority to express their anger and pose their questions directly, even if the answers at this stage are: “We don’t know”.

My sincere sympathies and condolences are with the families of Mr Alder and Mrs Kamara. Put yourself in their places and imagine the shock, extreme anger and disgust you would feel. They have been bereaved and now they are victims of a most terrible act of incompetence or, even, wilful deceit.

But I also have some sympathy for Ms Yates and Chief Constable Hollis. I know them both to be highly capable and professional individuals, who take their responsibilities very seriously. Neither was in office when Mr Alder or Mrs Kamara died. I am sure that neither had an inkling of any problem until Friday’s astonishing revelations.

But that is not to absolve them of responsibility or accountability - both come with leadership. What went wrong may have happened many years ago before they took charge, but it has come out into the open now, on their “watch”. They and their organisations - and perhaps others, such as the Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust and the Coroner’s Office - have a responsibility to front up during the crisis, ensure no stone is left unturned in uncovering what happened, and ensure those responsible are held fully to account, quite possibly in a court of law.

The story is likely to run and run. The police investigation must be exhaustive; an exhumation of the body buried instead of Mr Alder’s seems certain; and Mr Alder will finally be laid to rest.

Throughout it all, the authorities must resist the temptation to seek safety in a bunker mentality or become defensive under what may be unrelenting media scrutiny.

The only way to deal with such a crisis is with openness and transparency. Ms Yates, Chief Constable Hollis and other leaders involved in this case must communicate what is being done to address the grievous wrongs, within sensible legal restrictions. They must treat the family and friends of Mr Alder and Mrs Kamara with the utmost courtesy, respect and openness. Above all, they must leave no stone unturned in discovering the truth and ensuring those responsible, by action or inaction, are held fully to account, whatever the consequences.

The Alder case was a nightmare for Humberside Police, with its allegations of racism and police brutality. Now that nightmare has come back to haunt them. And Hull City Council have joined them in the eye of the storm.

It’s a testing time for all the organisations involved in this appalling sequence of events and, most of all, for their leaders. This scandal has been deeply damaging, but failing in any way to address fully the families’ concerns, failing to uncover the whole truth, or failing to hold those responsible to account would be simply unacceptable.

Will the leaders pass the test of leadership? If so, they and their organisations can, even now, emerge with some credit from these disgraceful events.

Postcript (8th November):
When I wrote this blog I was unaware that it was Hull City Council chief executive Nicola Yates who requested that the matter should be the subject of a police investigation, to which Humberside Police readily agreed.
In a statement issued to the media Ms Yates said: “As chair of the multi-agency group dealing with the tragic circumstances around Grace Kamara and Christopher Alder, I have requested the police undertake a criminal investigation into this extremely distressing case.
“As I previously said, I am appalled and distraught at what we have learned and my first priority has been to make sure the families involved are kept informed and given the necessary support.
“It is vital the families and the public get a clear view of the facts and understand what happened. A thorough police investigation will make sure this happens.
“Now that the police are carrying out a formal investigation it would be inappropriate for me to comment further.
“I recognise that this has been very traumatic for everyone involved and I again offer my sincere sympathies to the families.”