Miles Scott, Trust Chief Executive, said: “I want to say on behalf of the Trust, how shocked and appalled I am by the criminal activity by David Fuller in our hospital mortuary that has been revealed in court this week.

And most importantly, I want to apologise to the families of those who’ve been the victims of these terrible crimes.

We’ve been working with a team of specialist Police Family Liaison Officers to offer these families whatever help or assistance they may need.

I am confident that our mortuary today is safe and secure. But I am determined to see if there are any lessons to be learned or systems to be improved.

Sir Jonathan Michael – a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians – has been commissioned to independently chair an investigation into how this could have happened and to identify anything we could or should have done to avoid it.

Sir Jonathan has begun work on his investigation and once completed I’ll be able to say more.

I will ensure that staff at our hospitals are supported as they also process this shocking news.  Our mortuary team have been particularly distressed to learn about what has been revealed over the course of this trial.

My immediate priority, though, is to ensure the families of Fuller’s victims are given the time, space and privacy to come to terms with what they’ve learned – and that they receive all the care and support they need.”