Family's heartbreak after dad's coffin found inches underground
A grieving daughter claims she found a hole in her dad's grave just three days after his funeral, allowing her to feel the foot of his coffin beneath the surface.
A heartbroken family face the agony of burying their beloved dad for a SECOND time after a grave-digging blunder allegedly left his coffin just inches underground.
Kassandra Constable, 48, claims she could feel the foot of her father Michael's coffin through a hole in his grave just three days after his funeral. The 82-year-old retired builder was laid to rest alongside his late son Kristian at St Bartholomew's Church in Wolverhampton. But Kassandra says she returned to the cemetery to find the grave resembling a "building site", with rubble and broken concrete slabs scattered around it.
She believes the grave had been dug only around 18 inches deep, leaving the coffin perilously close to the surface. Kassandra said: "He had a beautiful funeral with horses and carriages, it was lovely. But when we went to the church to bury him we noticed the ground was very shallow. I didn't say anything but I had my concerns."
The mum-of-two claims her dad's coffin was sitting almost level with the ground, supported by a root. Three days later, she discovered a hole at the bottom of the grave and says she could reach inside and feel the foot end of the coffin. "I knew it wasn't deep enough," she said.
Kassandra contacted the gravedigger, but says she refused to let him work on her father's resting place again. The family complained to the church but claim their questions went unanswered for five weeks, prompting them to contact the Diocese of Lichfield. A second gravedigger was eventually brought in to make the grave safe against bad weather and animals.
Michael was exhumed on October 22 so extensive groundwork could be carried out before his reburial. Kassandra said: "Dad's back in cold storage now. We've got to have another burial. It's just devastating for him to be dug up anyway, it's really awful."
She also criticised the handling of the complaint, claiming repeated requests for the gravedigger's credentials went unanswered. She said she was told he had been sacked.
The family say the ordeal has prevented them from grieving properly after Michael's battle with multiple cancers and the loss of Kristian 35 years ago. Kassandra said: "This is not simply about a grave. It is about my dad's dignity, our family's right to grieve, and ensuring that other families do not have to experience the same distress."
The Archdeacon of Walsall, the Venerable Liz Jackson, said the church recognised the family's "profound distress" and was "deeply sorry" they had endured the experience. She said support had been offered and arrangements progressed to allow the exhumation and reburial to take place as soon as possible.