AIBU to question why taxpayers should fund Ian Huntley’s cremation?

[PassingStranger]

Can't Ian Huntleys mother who was at his bedside and in touch with him, pay for his cremation.
Why should the tax payer pay?
He's already cost the taxpayer loads.🤔😫

What did you think happened to the remains of people who died in prison?

there are lots of things wrong with the justice system, but this just isn't one of them.

it's not like it's a big fancy funeral. It's disposing of his remains. that needs to be done.

This thread is batshit and YABVVU

You can't just "get rid" of a body by whatever means. There are strict laws and protocols about transporting and dealing with the earthly remains of someone.

I doubt it will cost £3k. DF is being cremated next week and the cost of it all is £1200. The cost to you as a taxpayer is not even worth worrying about. It is way less than 1p to you personally.

This is so true

And the police investigation, court case, cost of imprisonment over the years and other costs (I believe the caretakers house in Soham had to be totally dismantled) has no doubt run to millions of pounds so a final couple of thousand is nothing in comparison to what has already been spent

Unless there is a person specified in the deceased’s will, the NOK is deemed to be the closest living relative and the daughter would take precedent. He doesn’t need to be on the birth certificate as long as she accepts she’s his daughter and there’s no contest.

Whilst determining a NOK can be very flexible at a healthcare level, when dealing with estates of the deceased, there is an order of succession to follow.

Yep.

Corpses have to be safely disposed of, for the sake of public health. That isn't free, or optional. The state shouldn't be able to force people to pay for the funerals of family members.

You implied that she hadn't suffered enough.

Yeah, do people think he died in a prison in the middle of the sea and can just be rolled over the side or something? Undertakers don't usually have boats, whereas we do have systems that are set up for cremation. It's an extra layer of logistics, participants and probably expense, for absolutely no benefit.

I think a quiet state cremation is preferable to something that could end up as a big deal on the front of all newspapers.

Maybe some people think that prisons have their own morgue and ways to dispose (sorry, I don't think that is a great word but I can't think of a better one) of bodies.

I am pretty sure sea burials is a heavily regulated thing, and would cost more than the £3k that is available to use.

Starting price for a burial at sea is £2185 but can exceed £7000 . . .

I think that it is something that people do because their deceased loved one specifically wanted it.

Pauper’s funerals are a thing OP. I doubt Ian Huntley had many assets and if you die with no money yourself, the state will pay to cremate you too, because it is better than slinging corpses on landfill sites.

It will be a very basic cremation, he won’t have a horse drawn carriage and doves released, and we aren’t paying for his family to have a knees-up.

And you definitely cannot flush ashes down the toilet. They float for one thing. You’d still be trying to get rid of residual ash weeks later.

Direct cremation and chuck in the bin, which conveniently is exactly what is going to happen unless somebody claims his ashes.

It will be in line with a standard funeral for anyone else who cannot afford to pay, cremation with a basic service in the smallest chapel at the crem, one modest spray of flowers is included, nothings more fancy. I’ve organised and attended several due to my work in different jurisdictions. The family are not to blame

I mean I don't know about anyone else but I'm quite glad we actually pay for dead bodies to be disposed of in a hygienic and safe way rather than harking back to medieval times where bodies were just left to rot on the street. Which seems to be what some people on here are rooting for given they don't want the tax payer to pay for it yet there are no legal ways (and neither they should be) of making the family pay for it.

This company appear to be the market leaders.

https://www.burialsatsea.co.uk/

Starting price is £3995, though that includes up to 10 people going on the boat. Maybe they could do a discount, as he's not likely to be accompanied.

Not sure it covers dealing with the body before it arrives at the sea though, if not that'd be extra. Conveniently, one of the UK burial at sea locations is North Tyneside, so not too far away. I didn't realise there were set areas for it but I suppose they have to think about tides and stuff.

I can't believe a few posters have suggested a gibbet as a good idea for IH.

Imagine the threads on here... "AIBU to object to a corpse in a cage being suspended near DC school?"

Well, regardless of who has died, the body has to be disposed of safely and hygienically.

Presumably you aren’t expecting them to dump it in the street?

I would assume the state would fund burial costs for anyone who is murdered in prison.

Especially given the amount of posters that can't cope with the smell of a lush shop, I'm not sure how they'll cope with the smell of a rotting corpse in public...

They should have chucked him in the council incinerator like the piece of garbage he was.

It should be his daughter technically as she will be next if kin legally but obviously she has never seen it met him.
So actually his mother doesn't have to

Are we quite sure a council incinerator would accept corpses? I must say, I don't think I'd be particularly impressed to be one of the workers there, going about my normal waste burning day, and then expected to take responsibility for the handling and disposal of human remains.

That was literally my dad's wish. He used to work for the council.
It is not allowed.

Finding human remains shuts the whole site down anyway.

I'm sure there was a thread on here not long ago from someone complaining that they can't just go in the council dump when they die.