Tunbridge Wells MP Greg Clark said almost immediately after Fuller's court case, for which sentencing is due today, (December 15) an inquiry by the hospital trust was 'not sufficient'.
The inquiry into the despicable crimes of David Fuller against around 100 corpses of women and girls in hospital morgues in Tunbridge Wells is expected to hold its sessions in public.
The eventual report and recommendations of the inquiry will be conducted independently of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust and the Government, and will also be made public.
Tunbridge Wells MP Greg Clark said almost immediately after Fuller's court case in November - for which sentencing for the rest of his life was held yesterday (December 15) - that an inquiry by the hospital trust was "not sufficient".
Along with seven other MPs in Kent and East Sussex, including Nusrat Ghani, Helen Grant and Tom Tugendhat, he demanded a public inquiry.
Last month Fuller, 67, admitted murdering Wendy Knell, 25, and Caroline Pierce, 20, in two separate attacks in Tunbridge Wells in 1987. They became known as the "bedsit murders".
Fuller, an electrician who had worked at the trust since 1989, also pleaded guilty to 51 other offences, including 44 charges relating to 78 identified victims, including three children, in mortuaries between 2008 and November 2020.
He had filmed himself carrying out the attacks in the morgue at the former Kent and Sussex Hospital and later at Tunbridge Wells Hospital in Pembury. His maintenance role meant he could use his swipe card to access these areas.
When health secretary Sajid Javid announced in the Commons on November 8 an inquiry would be held, Mr Clark asked him for specific assurances.
Secretary of State Sajid Javid replied: “I very much agree with all the words of my right hon. Friend, especially when he talks about the shock, hurt and pain of all the families, many of them his constituents.
"He asks specific questions on three points: whether the victims will be allowed to give evidence to the inquiry; whether the recommendations will be for the whole of the NHS and be public; and whether the inquiry will publish its findings on other sectors beyond the NHS. Absolutely, the inquiry will do all three things. I can give him that assurance.”
There are two types of public inquiry: statutory and non-statutory, both are public inquiries.
Fuller's inquiry will be a non-statutory public inquiry.
Mr Clark said this has more flexibility in how it can be conducted than a statutory inquiry, which is normally chaired by a judge.
It is also preferred because it can be carried out with fewer delays.
Lawyers may prefer a statutory inquiry because it is conducted more like a formal courtroom with people on all sides typically represented by lawyers.
The inquiry into how Fuller was able to carry out his crimes, to put right the faults and hold to account those responsible, will see direct questioning by the inquiry chairman, with direct answers to him.
A non-statutory inquiry, however, can not compel evidence from witnesses who refuse to appear, unlike a statutory inquiry.
But Mr Clark told the Courier, a non-statutory inquiry could, if necessary, be converted into a statutory inquiry to equip it with that power.
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