A bereaved husband says his grief was compounded after his wife's coffin became 'jammed head-first' during her funeral. Vincent McGuire, 60, lost his beloved wife Elaine, 53, last September after a long illness.
And he chose to have the "adored" mother-of-three and grandmother-of-two laid to rest at Mill Lane Cemetery in Cheadle, Stockport, just a short distance from the family home in Levenshulme.
However, what should have been a solemn and poignant occasion became "shocking and embarrassing" for Vincent and his family when her coffin was not able to pass through the grave that had been dug as more than 200 mourners watched on.
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Upon arriving from the church at the Stockport Council-run cemetery, Mr McGuire says he was told by the funeral directors that he and several other family members could not act as pallbearers because the burial needed to speeded along as the grave was "buckling".
He then says as the coffin was lowered it became stuck at the foot end and had to be hauled back to the surface. A member of cemetery staff had to use ladder to climb into the 9ft-deep grave and remove some levels of timber shoring before it was re-lowered.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Mr McGuire said he felt angry and let down by both the funeral directors and the council. "It just so shocking to see. Shocking and embarrassing," he said.
"It went down head-first, went down three feet then got jammed at the back. One of the other mourners intervened and told them to take it out. It got lifted back out and left on the ground. Then the cemetery got involved. I couldn't believe what was happening."
Mr McGuire claims he couldn't bury his wife in the plot he originally chose, frills were hanging out of the casket as it arrived at the church service and the funeral live stream for mourners who couldn't attend was "shabby and unprofessional".
"I still can't sleep", Mr McGuire added. "I wanted to give her the best and what we got was rubbish.
"If it wasn't for my children I'd have them take her out and do it all again. But my family doesn't want that. I don't want pity from anyone. It's not about the money. Any money we get back I will be donating to charity, to St Ann's Hospice."
Elaine's mother Josie Buckley, 80, said: "It was horrendous. The worst experience ever. It was like watching a comedy on the television, it wasn't real. It would have been funny if it wasn't so tragic."
Mr Maguire has been pursuing complaints against Kane Funeral Services and Stockport Council ever since. He lodged a claim at the county court in a bid to recoup £2,035 paid to Kane for "professional services".
In the claim documents, he said he could not explain "the level of great distress" that incident had caused and that it had "created memories that will distress me and my family forever".
A judgement ordering Kane's to pay him the money was issued last month after the company failed to reply. The funeral firm told the MEN it was not aware of the legal proceedings but would have "felt vindicated in fighting any judgement as we feel we conducted ourselves with the utmost dignity and professionalism".
A spokesman added: "We are aware that the upset caused to Mr Maguire and his family can't be undone but we yet again would like to extend our deepest and most sincere condolences for the loss of Elaine."
The council has apologised to Vincent for what happened and how it was handled. They told him an 'air pocket' causing the surrounding ground to become unstable meant the burial had to be done more quickly than anticipated and have offered to pay for a priest to come and send prayers again at the graveside.
However, they claimed information given to them about the size of the casket was "not accurate" and that the coffin was not lowered correctly. Kane Funeral Services refute this and insist accurate information was given. They also insist the funeral was handled with the 'utmost care and consideration'.
A spokesman for Kane Funeral Services said: "We can confirm that the funeral of the late Elaine McGuire was carried out with the utmost care and consideration as all funerals the company undertakes are.
"We are aware of the situation in question and while we understand why and how this would have been upsetting for Mr McGuire, we provided the staff at Mill Lane with the correct measurements.
"This is no way helps alleviate the pain he feels and we here at Kanes offer our most sincere and heartfelt condolences, we have had several conversations with Mr McGuire in which we tried our very best to help him get answers to why the issue with the grave had occurred.
"The outer measurements of the casket were provided and we have proof of this through the coffin order form from Halliday's Funeral Supplies and the Internment form from Stockport Council."
An investigation was carried out by the council's complaints department and was partially upheld. Mr McGuire referred them to the Local Government Ombudsman though they declined to investigate as they ruled the council had "explained what went wrong and apologised".
Mark Glynn, Director of Place Management at Stockport Council, said: "We extend our deepest sympathies to Mr McGuire for his loss and would like to once again offer our sincerest apologies for what transpired at such a difficult and traumatic time for Mr McGuire and his family."
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