This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/manchester/7075094.stm
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| 'Cremated son' later found alive | 'Cremated son' later found alive |
| (about 6 hours later) | |
| A 58-year-old mother believed she had cremated her missing son - only for him to turn up alive and well a day later. | A 58-year-old mother believed she had cremated her missing son - only for him to turn up alive and well a day later. |
| Gina Partington, from Urmston in Greater Manchester, had mistakenly identified a dead man as her son and went to his cremation on Tuesday. | Gina Partington, from Urmston in Greater Manchester, had mistakenly identified a dead man as her son and went to his cremation on Tuesday. |
| Police called the next day to say they had found her 39-year-old son, Tommy Dennison, in Nottingham. | |
| Mrs Partington said that her son and the, as yet unidentified, other man "could have been twins". | |
| After she was first told her son was dead she mentioned distinctive scars he had from a previous brain injury and a badly ulcerated leg, and police confirmed it was him. | |
| He had also been identified by his caseworker, who had reported him missing several days earlier. | |
| I went and lifted the shroud and it was Tommy. I held his hand - it was him Gina Partington, mother | |
| And Mrs Partington said when she saw the man lying on the mortuary block she too thought it was her son. | |
| "I went in with my ex-husband who went in first and said: 'Oh my god it's Tommy'. | |
| "I went and lifted the shroud and it was Tommy. I held his hand - it was him." | |
| The man was cremated at a ceremony on Tuesday. | |
| Mrs Partington was picking up her granddaughter from a party on Wednesday when she got a call from police saying they urgently needed to speak to her. | |
| "They showed me a photograph of somebody they said they had in custody in the Midlands for a few days - and it was my son. | |
| "I said: 'No, it's a joke - you're being silly, he's gone'. But they said they'd arrange for me to speak to him. | |
| He said, 'You've buried me' and I said, 'Yes son and I've given you a really good send off' Gina Partington, mother | |
| "Then on the way home I got a surreal call. I've got my granddaughter sitting there in Halloween costume and this boy saying to me, 'Hiya mam it's me Tam.'" | |
| "He said, 'You've buried me,' and I said, 'Yes son and I've given you a really good send off'. | |
| "You've had a Scottish flag and a Scottish minister - it's been a proper Scottish funeral." | |
| Mrs Partington said she did not blame police and admits even she was fooled about his identity. | |
| "They could have been twins - I can't actually accept it wasn't my son. Even the police confirmed it was him. I don't blame anybody," she added. | |
| Police have now told Mrs Partington they will introduce a system of fingerprinting a body that has no identification. | |
| Detectives now believe they know the name of the dead man who died on 12 October near Upper Brook Street in Rusholme, and are trying to contact his family. | |
| The case has been voluntarily referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). | The case has been voluntarily referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). |