THE body of a 16-month-old Tyldesley boy was exhumed this week as his parents' quest for an independent review into his death came to fruition.

Thomas Beardmore was treated and died at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital in 1995 after he was diagnosed with meningitis.

His parents, Thomas and Janet, believe mistakes were made by the hospital over their child's treatment.

A spokeswoman for the Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University Hospitals NHS Trust said the couple had requested the inquiry and the Trust was willing to pay.

A former police chief for Greater Manchester Police John Stalker is leading the inquiry into Thomas's death.

The Trust spokeswoman said: "The issue is the treatment Thomas received in 1995 which is the part John Stalker is going to be investigating.

"He is going back to carry out an inquiry because the family does not believe what the hospital tells them."

Among a list of complaints the family said Thomas's brain was removed during a post-mortem examination and tissue slides were made up from this procedure.

But the Trust spokeswoman said the removal of the brain was "routine" when the cause of death was uncertain.

Examination

She said: "Without being too gruesome, when someone dies, a routine post-mortem examination looks at the cause of death.

"We remove the brain and it has to be prepared for six weeks and then it is taken for analysis. That is routine with any unknown death.

"That's what the slides are for, that's how we determine how someone dies."

She said the parents did know about the slides: "They had actually taken them away for individual pathological reports back in 1995."

The inquiry will go into the details and circumstances surrounding Thomas's death.

The Trust spokeswoman added: "We said to the parents whoever would make them feel comfortable, we would pay for to carry out the inquiry."

At the exhumation, Thomas' body was re-united with the slides and re-buried at Agecroft cemetery in Manchester.

Speaking at the family's semi-detached home on the Shakerley housing estate after the exhumation, Mr Beardmore, who appeared tired and visibly strained by the ordeal, said: "I personally examined his body. It was horrendous.

"To have John Stalker involved was a personal choice. He is a man of intergrity. There is nobody else like him on the Trust. I feel we will get justice and satisfaction with him handling the inquiry."