Undertaker drives off in van, forgetting he had put baby’s body on roof

A funeral home director left a stillborn baby’s body on the roof of his van in a case of “appalling neglect”, a court has heard.

Richard Bertrand, 59, drove off with a capsule containing the corpse on the top of his vehicle in Queensland. It fell off and was later found by road workers.

The undertaker, from the town of Gracemere, pleaded guilty to misconduct with regard to a corpse but was spared jail by magistrates on Monday.

Bertrand had placed the baby’s body on the roof of his van after stopping to switch to a bigger vehicle during a 400-mile drive from Rockhampton to Brisbane, ABC News reported.

He forgot about it and drove off, only realising his “incredible error” upon reaching his destination, Maroochydore Magistrates’ Court heard.

In a victim impact statement, the baby’s mother – who was not named – said her family was “only just holding our heads above the water after the loss of our beautiful son”.

The mother and her partner were told they could not take their son home because an autopsy was required.

“We were hesitant to leave him but we were reassured he would be cared for until he was returned to us,” she said. But what happened next was “something that nightmares were made of”, she added.

Bertrand, who worked for Queensland Funeral Transfers, was “upset and in shock” after realising his mistake, his barrister Bernard Reilly said.

His ”out of character” conduct came after he learned his family had been evacuated from their home because of a bushfire, the court heard.

Magistrate Graham Hillan acknowledged the undertaker’s actions were not deliberate but said his ”appalling neglect” could not go unpunished.

He added it was “was quite appalling for parents who had suffered a lot of agony already and to have this on top was certainly an appalling case for them”.

Bertrand was fined $5,000 (£2,700).