A DEVASTATED mother has had to endure the trauma of holding three funerals for her daughter after police kept discovering body parts they had not returned.

Bolton West MP Chris Green raised the matter in Prime Minister’s Question Time on Wednesday and said relatives of Leah Marie Aldridge had “no confidence” that Greater Manchester Police have allowed them to finally lay her to rest.

Prime Minister Theresa May faced calls to launch an inquiry before telling MPs it was an “absolutely terrible case” and the family have suffered a “prolonged trauma” as a result of how it has been handled.

Five-week-old Leah, daughter of Ms Janine Aldridge, was buried three months after being killed by her father, Andrew Ashurst, in 2002

Ms Aldridge, was assured by the Greater Manchester Police that all her organs had been returned following post-mortems.

Fifteen years later, in January 2017, Ms Aldridge was informed by Greater Manchester Police that her daughter’s liver had been found as a result of an audit of human tissue held by the police in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that took place in 2010.

Ms Aldridge arranged another burial for Leah in March 2017 after having more of Leah’s organs returned. She was told by authorities at this point that all organs were accounted for but Ms Aldridge continued to enquire to ensure this was the case and reached out to her local MP for additional support.

Following enquiries made by Mr Green since March 2017, Ms Aldridge has been informed that other organs from her daughter had been retained. She held another burial for her daughter in August 2018.Now Ms Aldridge has no confidence that her case is closed and that all of her daughter’s organs have been accounted for.

Speaking at a Prime Minister’s Question Time on Wednesday, Mr Green said: “The death of a child is always a horrific experience for any parent, however the failures in the Greater Manchester authorities’ handling of Miss Aldridge’s case has only amplified the horror she has had to endure.

“I hope that by raising Ms Aldridge’s case with the Prime Minister it will lead to an inquiry that will finally bring an end to this awful ordeal for the Aldridge family.”

The Prime Minister said: “I understand the deputy mayor of Greater Manchester has been in touch with the Human Tissue Authority about the case and the Human Tissue Authority is advising on ensuring the establishment concerned take the necessary work to evaluate what went wrong in this case, and put in measures to minimise the chance this can ever happen again.

A spokesperson from the Mayor of Greater Manchester, said Mr Burnham and the deputy mayor’s firm focus continues to be supporting the family until they get the answers they need.

*Andrew Ashurst pleaded guilty to unlawfully killing Leah on December 23, 2002.

Leah had been suffering from a cold in the week before her death and Ashurst had taken her downstairs from her mother’s bedroom to try to settle her. By the morning, she was limp and struggling to breathe.

She was taken from the couple’s former home in Blake Avenue, Atherton, to the Royal Bolton Hospital and later transferred to the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital in Pendlebury. She died of brain and retinal haemorrhaging on Christmas Day.