What would you be charged with if you were caught digging up a grave? (UK)

onesecondglance · Jun 29, 2013

So one of my characters buries some bodies, then has cause to try to dig one of them back up again (don't ask). He's caught literally armpits-deep in the grave by the police, and held for questioning.

In my current draft I have the charge down as criminal damage, but I'm wondering if there's a more specific crime he'd charged with. He didn't actually remove anything from the grave - he was caught before he could.

Any thoughts? The story is set in the UK.

(Fun fact: in the course of Google research on this, I found out that the practice of exhuming bodies and selling them for medical research is called resurrectionism. Cool!)

cornflake · Jun 29, 2013

onesecondglance said:
So one of my characters buries some bodies, then has cause to try to dig one of them back up again (don't ask). He's caught literally armpits-deep in the grave by the police, and held for questioning.

In my current draft I have the charge down as criminal damage, but I'm wondering if there's a more specific crime he'd charged with. He didn't actually remove anything from the grave - he was caught before he could.

Any thoughts? The story is set in the UK.

(Fun fact: in the course of Google research on this, I found out that the practice of exhuming bodies and selling them for medical research is called resurrectionism. Cool!)

Dunno, but question - did he bury them legally and properly to begin with? Improper disposal of a body is a crime too. You can't usually just be burying grandpa wherever.

clee984 · Jun 29, 2013

Isn't desecrating a grave still a chargeable offence? I know it doesn't tend to happen that much these days, but I don't see why Parliament would have dropped the law since the days of Burke and Hare.

I don't know, really! Interesting question.

dpaterso · Jun 29, 2013

Desecrating a grave is illegal in all countries, I think, and I think that's what the Old Bill would charge you with.

(Beaten to it, cross-posted)

-Derek

onesecondglance · Jun 29, 2013

cornflake said:
Dunno, but question - did he bury them legally and properly to begin with? Improper disposal of a body is a crime too. You can't usually just be burying grandpa wherever.

Indeed he did not bury them legally - but there's little proof of that and he's not going to volunteer the information.

dpaterso said:
Desecrating a grave is illegal in all countries, I think, and I think that's what the Old Bill would charge you with.

-Derek

Thanks - good thinking. Reps all round.

Maythe · Jun 29, 2013

You could try ringing a police station and asking. You might find there's a dedicated contact for writers on a national level if you Google it.

cornflake · Jun 29, 2013

Maythe said:
You could try ringing a police station and asking. You might find there's a dedicated contact for writers on a national level if you Google it.

Call it paranoia, but I'd personally think twice before ringing the local fuzz all 'uhm, just out of curiosity, for like, research purposes, totally just, you know, asking, what could one theoretically be charged with if one perhaps had buried a body secretly and then went to dig it up and happened to get caught?'

mirandashell · Jun 29, 2013

Has he buried this body out in the woods? Cos I don't think the police would be too quick to charge him with anything until they'd asked lots and lots of questions.......

Steve Collins · Jun 29, 2013

I'm ex-UK plod and I agree with mirandashell. If the bodies are not in a graveyard and somebody is digging them up I'd at least arrest them on suspicion of murder.

Hendo · Jun 29, 2013

cornflake said:
Call it paranoia, but I'd personally think twice before ringing the local fuzz all 'uhm, just out of curiosity, for like, research purposes, totally just, you know, asking, what could one theoretically be charged with if one perhaps had buried a body secretly and then went to dig it up and happened to get caught?'

Odd requests like that weren't too uncommon in either of the departments I've worked for. Just be clear that you're writing a novel.

As for specific charges here in the US.... umm I was never a huge 2c buff but without digging out my book, criminal trespass and destruction of property float to the top of my mind. But that's only if it was in a graveyard.

If he already buried them and is digging them back up somewhere in the woods it would be completely different. He would immediately be brought in for questioning by a detective.

Shakesbear · Jun 29, 2013

onesecondglance said:
So one of my characters buries some bodies, then has cause to try to dig one of them back up again (don't ask). He's caught literally armpits-deep in the grave by the police, and held for questioning.

Did the character register the deaths? I think it is a criminal offence not to register a death. A doctor has to give the relation a form which is then taken to a registrar who fills in various bits and bobs of paperwork and gives a death certificate. This is then used to tell the undertaker that the death is all legal and above board and the deceased can be buried.

onesecondglance said:
In my current draft I have the charge down as criminal damage, but I'm wondering if there's a more specific crime he'd charged with. He didn't actually remove anything from the grave - he was caught before he could.

Any thoughts? The story is set in the UK.

(Fun fact: in the course of Google research on this, I found out that the practice of exhuming bodies and selling them for medical research is called resurrectionism. Cool!)

Again . . . going to check this . . .

Once a person has been buried it is unlawful to disturb or remove the body without lawful authority

http://www.yourrights.org.uk/yourri...ver-a-dead-body/disposal-of-a-dead-body.shtml

So . . . you can bury someone in a forest, but it seems that is is against the law to dig them up unless you have 'lawful authority'.

Sigh . . . so what the hell am I supposed to do with the bodies in my garden? Opps, shouldn't have said that . . .

Becky Black · Jun 30, 2013

Steve Collins said:
I'm ex-UK plod and I agree with mirandashell. If the bodies are not in a graveyard and somebody is digging them up I'd at least arrest them on suspicion of murder.

That's what I was thinking. The charges relating to digging the body up are surely the least of his problems right now.

onesecondglance · Jun 30, 2013

Hi guys,

this is in a cemetery, and until the police start investigating (as a result of having arrested him) they aren't aware that anything odd's up - they just figure he's trying to dig up an old body (okay... anything more odd). By the time they realise it's not just plain grave robbing, the suspect is no longer in custody. So it's really about the initial charge in this scenario

mirandashell · Jun 30, 2013

Ah! Ok, that changes things. So you need to find out the charge for resurrectionism.

Just had a look and it's not easy to find out.

What would you be charged with if you were caught digging up a grave? (UK)

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