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Remains of fall death man Christopher Rochester exhumed | Remains of fall death man Christopher Rochester exhumed |
(about 7 hours later) | |
The body of a County Durham man who died on the Greek island of Rhodes 11 years ago has been exhumed in a bid to settle a row over a missing organ. | |
Christopher Rochester, 24, died in a fall from a balcony but he was missing a kidney when his body was flown home. | |
An organ that was later sent out failed a DNA match and Greek authorities have demanded further samples from the body. | |
A forensic team from Durham Police led the exhumation at Ropery Lane Cemetery in Chester-le-Street earlier. | |
A Greek doctor was convicted in 2008 of neglecting Mr Rochester during his treatment in hospital. | |
'Nowhere to hide' | 'Nowhere to hide' |
Mr Rochester's mother and stepfather, Pam and George Cummings, have campaigned for many years for a criminal investigation over the kidney mix-up. | |
Mr Cummings said: "This is something we very much wanted to avoid. We believed that DNA from Christopher's mother would be enough to prove that the kidney they sent back wasn't Christopher's. | Mr Cummings said: "This is something we very much wanted to avoid. We believed that DNA from Christopher's mother would be enough to prove that the kidney they sent back wasn't Christopher's. |
"But sadly the Greek authorities stood by their request for Christoper's body to be exhumed and to extract DNA from the source. | "But sadly the Greek authorities stood by their request for Christoper's body to be exhumed and to extract DNA from the source. |
"The Greeks have made it as difficult as possible for us from day one. | "The Greeks have made it as difficult as possible for us from day one. |
"But when the test results come back positive, as we expect them to, the Greek authorities will have nowhere left to hide." | "But when the test results come back positive, as we expect them to, the Greek authorities will have nowhere left to hide." |
North Durham MP Kevan Jones, who has campaigned on behalf of the family, added: "Chris fell off a balcony and survived. | |
"He had a small tear in one of the arteries going to his kidney which led to him bleeding to death over several hours in a Greek hospital. | |
"If action had been taken swiftly he would have survived. | "If action had been taken swiftly he would have survived. |
"The kidney, which was important in determining how he died, was missing and was replaced with one that clearly wasn't Christopher's. This is a key point in proving that there was negligence." | "The kidney, which was important in determining how he died, was missing and was replaced with one that clearly wasn't Christopher's. This is a key point in proving that there was negligence." |
DNA samples taken from Mr Rochester's remains will be sent to a laboratory in Belgium for independent analysis. | DNA samples taken from Mr Rochester's remains will be sent to a laboratory in Belgium for independent analysis. |
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