Monster who had sex with corpses had ‘all access hospital pass’ despite criminal record
David Fuller assaulted at least 100 dead women and girls while working as an electrician at two NHS sites, police said. He is facing a whole-life term after pleading guilty to murdering two young women
Mortuary monster David Fuller continued to attack dead females in hospitals where he worked for years after his bosses learned he had a criminal record.
Fuller, 67, is facing a whole-life term after today pleading guilty to murdering two young women 34 years ago.
Police said outside court that he assaulted at least 100 dead women and girls while working as an electrician at two NHS sites.
The Mirror can now reveal that Fuller was forced to have a criminal record check for the first time in early 2015 following revelations Jimmy Savile had sexually assaulted patients for decades across the NHS.
It emerged Fuller had convictions for a string of burglaries in the 1970s that he had previously lied about, a source said.
But he was allowed to continue working with an “access all areas” hospital swipe card.
Alan Collins, partner Hugh James Solicitors – specialist in representing victims of sexual abuse, said: “Burglary is an offence of dishonesty and considered rightly as a serious offence and, therefore, it is astonishing that Fuller was employed in any position, let alone which involved trust, that gave him any kind of contact with the vulnerable, or where security issues are involved.
“It strikes me as almost reckless to have allowed Fuller access to a mortuary let alone any other area of a hospital where personal integrity should be beyond question.”
Fuller’s last known morgue victim was attacked in November last year, meaning he continued abusing female corpses for nearly six years after being exposed.
He pleaded guilty on Wednesday at Maidstone Crown Court to the 1987 murders of Wendy Knell, 25, and Caroline Pierce, 20.
Known as the “Bedsit Murders”, both had been battered around the head, asphyxiated and sexually assaulted by Fuller after he killed them in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
Wendy Knell was just 25 when she was discovered sexually assaulted and beaten to death ( Image: Kent Police / SWNS)
The following year he got a job at the Kent and Sussex hospital when he failed to disclose his burglary convictions, sources said.
He again declared he had no convictions in 2002 but was finally exposed 13 years later, while working as a contractor at the Tunbridge Wells hospital.
This time his details were sent to the Disclosure and Barring Service for the first time, the official body responsible for protecting the vulnerable from “unsuitable” individuals.
A Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS trust source said on Wednesday that Fuller’s employers, a private contractor, learned of his convictions in 2015 but did not inform the trust.
NHS trusts had been told to ensure that checks on staff and contractors were up to date after a survey revealed many did not undertake three-yearly reviews.
The measure was a key recommendation of former barrister Kate Lampard’s 2015 report on improvements needed to protect patients in the wake of the Savile scandal.
Fuller pleaded guilty to murdering Wendy Knell and Caroline Pierce in 1987 ( Image: PA)
A Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust board report of March 2015 about the recommendations found a “limited number of breaches in this policy” with the appointment of consultants and contractors.
It promised that “action will be taken to tighten the process, including the disciplinary policy being updated.”
It added: “Much of the story of Savile and his associations with NHS hospitals is unusual to the point of being scarcely credible…However features of the story have everyday implications and the Trust has to take every possible step to protect, as best as possible, our staff and patients that use our services and learn the lessons from such a hideous episode in NHS history.”
The Trust has been contacted for a comment.
The families of the 81 victims who could be identified have been told their loved ones were targeted but police fear Fuller attacked many more during his 32 years working at two NHS sites.
The known victims range from three aged under 18 to others who were over 85. Some were attacked repeatedly on separate occasions.
Fuller arriving in court ( Image: STEVE FINN PHOTOGRAPHY)
Senior Crown Prosecutor Libby Clark said: “The case of David Fuller is the most disturbing and challenging case personally that I have ever been involved with.
“As well as the horrific abuse of trust, you have heard of his employment and his prolific offending against dead women on a scale that we have never seen before.
“I do find it almost unbelievable to be perfectly honest that we have a case of this nature.”
Scientific advances meant that in 2020 police were able to trace Fuller through DNA from the murder scenes.
During a dawn raid at the home the hoarder shared with his wife in Heathfield, Sussex, detectives found a box of hard drives containing a “library of unimaginable sexual depravity” including 100,000 images and videos he had taken of himself abusing the corpses.
Det Chief Supt Paul Fotheringham, of Kent Police, said: “What we found were some really distressing images of David Fuller carrying out offences in a mortuary.
“We genuinely believe that it’s unprecedented in the UK, there’s nothing we have ever seen like this.”
The known offences took place between 2008 and November 2020 at the Kent and Sussex Hospital and the Tunbridge Wells Hospital.
But Fuller’s offending may have begun as far back as 1988.
The keen cyclist and birdwatcher, described as “quiet and helpful” by fellow riders, did not come to the attention of police between 1977 and 2020.
His hard drive contained folders labelled with the names of some victims and a black notebook contained others.
Mr Fotheringham said: “We will not be able to identify everybody. It was a really challenging process for my staff just viewing the videos and the activity of Fuller.
“The priority is treating the victims we deal with with the utmost dignity and respect.”
Fuller, who has three children, could go anywhere in the hospital and was unsupervised while in the mortuary which he would visit in the evening after staff had gone home.
News Credit: www.mirror.co.uk
