'Our baby was robbed of dignity' says couple after funeral director kept body at home

The children of a funeral director's house were robbed of their dignity, according to a couple who discovered the body of their baby daughter lying on the sofa at a cremation director''s home. Macie-Mae, Cody and Liam Townend's daughter, was stillborn at a Leeds hospital in January, with the pair naming Amie Upton to look after her funeral. Ms Upton had been barred from entering any of Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust's mortuaries and maternity wards for storing baby bodies at her house earlier this week. Ms Upton has previously stated that she had only ever received two complaints in her eight years of running her baby loss assistance and funeral service, as well as Florrie's Army.

The couple revealed that Ms Upton had left their daughter's body at her house, six miles away from the funeral parlour where their daughter was being looked after, according to BBC Newsnight. Mr and Mrs Townend announced that they had discovered Macie-Mae's body on a sofa at Ms Upton's house wrapped in a blanket, ten days after they last saw her. Mrs Townend said:

I was mortified. I didn't know what to say and didn''t have any idea what to expect, so I didn’t know how to

It was awful. It seemed that she was the mother, even though we weren't the parents of that baby. It's like she just took everything over. "Dignity is what Macie-Mae was robbed of. She had no dignity.

Mr Townend said the couple wanted to get their baby out of the house as quickly as possible, adding that Ms Upton's behavior was not normal.The baby should have been in a chapel of rest and she wasn't,he said, so we're like,what's the deal here?

West Yorkshire Police said it had investigated Florrie's Army but that no criminal charges had been found, but that it had not been identified until

extensive inquiries

revealed no such offen Ms Upton had only two reports about the service in eight years, according to Ms. She told the Daily Mirror on Thursday that the babies in her care

know nothing but love

and that the bodies in her household were never left alone, and that she never left them alone. Mr and Mrs Townend, who visit their daughter's grave every day, have called for greater oversight of the funeral industry. Before Macie-Mae was born, the couple had been trying to have a baby for four years.

It's easier to open your own burger van than it is to open a new funeral home,Mrs Townend said.It needs to change. We wouldn't have to go through this if [rules] were already in place.

If there are no laws regarding the funeral directors, how can you be sure, at least when you pass away?

Mr Townend said.

You're at a point in life where you die and you'll be dying,

says the author. You're still entitled to human rights.

Earlier this week, the Townend's MPMark Sewards said he was pushing for new powers to control the sector and that he would

hold the government's feet to the fire

to ensure that no new recommendations were implemented. The government has stated that mourning families affected by the government's death had

rightly wished their children to be treated with dignity and reverenceand that it wasconsidering the full range of options to raise standards" in the funeral industry.

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