Prosecutors described David Fuller’s offending as the “worst of its kind” in British legal history, as he was condemned by his library of images of “unimaginable sexual depravity” of him abusing his victims.
His disturbing case has thrown the spotlight on necrophilia, until relatively recently an invisible crime in British law, and which today is punishable by a maximum of just two years in prison.
Campaigners, among them the mother of one of Fuller’s victims, Nevres Kemal, are calling for sentences to be increased to a minimum of 10 years. The justice secretary, Dominic Raab, is said to be examining whether the current penalty is appropriate.
Until the Sexual Offences Act 2003, sexually interfering with a body was not a specific sexual crime. When the Home Office set out its proposals in 2000 for reform of the law, its consultation paper admitted that this omission “came as a surprise” to most.
Under the previous Sexual Offences Act of 1956, it was argued the dead body ceased to have rights in law, and so it was arguable that it was not a victim.
The Home Office consultation admitted there was “no firm evidence of the nature and extent of the problem, but that is not surprising if the law is silent on the issue”. It was believed to be “a rare and unusual” occurrence. But, though the act was “profoundly repugnant” that was not, in itself, an argument for making it criminal, it said.
However, the strong argument that led to it finally becoming illegal in 2003, was the effect on the families, “who have every right to expect human remains to be treated with respect and propriety”.
This anguish was expressed over and again by relatives of those Fuller abused when they gave their victim impact statements in court. The mother of a nine-year-old girl spoke of how her daughter’s body had been “ruined and disrespected by that vile man”, which will “haunt me forever”. The father of an 18-year-old victim, said Fuller had “destroyed our souls”. The son of another said Fuller had “ruined hundreds of family members’ and friends’ memories of their loved ones”.
Few previous cases of necrophilia have made the headlines in the UK. The north London serial killer Dennis Nilsen, who was convicted of six murders and two attempted murders of young men in 1983, but is believed to have killed at least 15, always denied penetration of his victims. He did, however admit pleasure in handling, dressing and being near his victims’ bodies, before dismembering them.
John Christie, who murdered at least eight people during the 1940s and 50s at the notorious 10 Rillington Place in Notting Hill, London, was another alleged to be a necrophiliac.
From cases reported, “it is mercifully rare”, said the psychologist Jason Roach, professor of psychology and policing at Huddersfield University, who has written on necrophilia as a crime. “But I have no idea about the frequency. It’s very hard to prove.”
A 1978 study in published in the Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law noted academic literature on the subject of necrophilia was “sparse”, adding: “Necrophiliacs are very rare, some are psychotic and inaccessible, and they infrequently consult the psychiatrists.”
Roach said: “Like paedophiles, people who engage in this will gravitate to arenas in which potential victims and opportunities are plentiful. So you have people working in hospitals, mortuaries or graveyards, etc. And very little is known about it.”
“When you are looking for cases, you won’t find many.”
Such crimes take place in great secrecy, away from witnesses, often only coming to light, as in Fuller’s case, when another such as murder has been committed.
Sentencing Fuller, judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said the shocked family members of some of his victims “wished they had never been told”.
While Fuller’s self-incriminating evidence provided prosecutors with all the material they needed to convict, in less clear-cut cases putting families through a trial might be seen as too distressing, especially if the accused can be more easily convicted of other serious charges, such as murder, which attract high sentences, said Roach.
“In some ways, it’s a charge that the CPS and the police don’t want to file because of all the anguish that it causes. And, as the law stands, the families won’t get much closure or justice out of that because the law at present doesn’t really suit the gravity of the crime:” he said.
An independent inquiry has been announced by the health secretary, Sajid Javid. It will look at how Fuller was able to continue offending unimpeded on such scale, and how it can be prevented in future. Tougher security in mortuaries will include hospitals ensuring they have CCTV in place and controlled access arrangements.
