Police exhume third grave in GP probe

Last updated at 08:40 12 January 2005


Police today exhumed the body of a third patient of a family doctor.

The move follows a review of the practice records at the surgery of 70-year-old Dr Howard Martin at Newton Aycliffe, County Durham.

Officials at Sedgefield Primary Care Trust performed a medical review of Dr Martin's practice, after which Durham Police applied for permission to exhume the bodies of three more patients.

The remains of two men, in their 70s and 80s, were exhumed earlier this month.

In the early hours of this morning, the body of

the third, a middle-aged man, was exhumed at a cemetery in Shildon, near Bishop Auckland. Military-style tents were erected over the grave.

Legislation governing exhumation requires that the process has to be carried out under cover of darkness, and with the permission of the local coroner.

The exhumations earlier this month were performed in cemeteries at South Church, near Bishop

Auckland, and in Newton Aycliffe.

Post-mortem examinations were conducted at Bishop Auckland General Hospital and samples were sent for forensic tests. The results are thought to be due in about five weeks.

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