Ormesby man's body exhumed after being buried in wrong grave

A man's body was exhumed and reinterred after he was buried in the wrong cemetery plot due to a recording error.

Barry Halksworth had reserved a specific space in the churchyard of St Margaret's church in Ormesby, Norfolk, more than a decade before his death in February 2022.

But a mix-up by the parish council meant gravediggers were not informed.

His widow spotted the error on the day of her husband's funeral.

"The vicar had already blessed the grave and it was too late to do anything by that time so the burial took place," explained Delia Halksworth.

Instead, she had to wait for weeks until he could be reburied in the correct plot, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Mr Halksworth, who was a managing director at the former Blue Bus Depot in Great Yarmouth, had lived in Ormesby with his wife for decades and died aged 82 after a period of ill health.

His wife discovered the error when she arrived at the funeral on 17 March 2022 and said: "We realised there was a hole where it shouldn't be."

After the ceremony had proceeded as planned, council officials were informed of the mistake. Councillors met with Mrs Halksworth and apologised.

"They were surprised I was not angry but I said you can't get angry about something that has already happened," said the 71-year-old.

The council contacted the Diocese of Norwich for permission to exhume the body and perform the burial for the second time, only now in the correct plot.

This took place weeks later, early in the morning to avoid onlookers. Mrs Halksworth chose not to attend.

Ormesby St Margaret and Scratby Parish Council subsequently paid the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management £550 to conduct a review of its procedures.

According to the review report, Mr Halksworth's request was not correctly recorded, meaning the council's burial book and map of the graveyard showed no evidence of the reservation in 2010.

The council said it had digitised its record-keeping systems and created a "specialised communications platform" for all burial ground matters.

Parish council clerk Chris Batten described the incident as "human error" and added: "Such incidents, while regrettable, underscore the need for robust systems, which we continuously refine with modern technology."

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