A father of three who broke into a morgue and contaminated two bodies has been arrested.
Damon Tingay “raped and defiled” bodies after breaking into the mortuary at Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby in the early hours of the morning on March 17.
Grimsby Crown Court heard Tingay searched several cold stores and disturbed the shrouds covering the dead before carrying out sexual acts on two male bodies.
Tingay lay in the morgue for around four minutes undisturbed before he was discovered by hospital staff and attempted to flee.
Behind him he left a “horrific scene”, the court heard, as the 30-year-old pleaded guilty to sexual penetration of a corpse and trespassing with intent to commit a sexual offence.
On Friday, Tingay was sentenced to six years in prison and a four-year extended license by a judge who called his actions “perverted and utterly grotesque”.
The court heard testimony from the mother and aunt of one of the patients attacked by Tingay.
They described the “incredible pain when they discovered what had happened to a dear and precious member of their family.”
Prosecutor Jeremy Evans said it was “something they will remember for the rest of their lives” and that the man’s aunt suffered a bout of multiple sclerosis due to the stress “caused by discovering a family member had been violated in this way.” . .
A statement from the brother of a man who was disturbed when his drawer was opened said he suffered from nightmares and was “traumatized” by the fact that his brother’s body “had been moved to a place where he trusted he would be safe and at peace.” ”. .
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The court was told how Tingay arrived at the hospital by bike at around 2.50am and spent around two hours there – trying to keep away from security guards.
Sentencing the defendant, Judge John Thackray KC told him: “Just when you thought you had escaped them, you entered the mortuary by forcing an external door.
“What happens after that is shown on CCTV.”
Footage played in court showed Tingay drinking from a bottle, before entering the morgue – the door had no lock and was only held closed by a magnet.
CCTV from inside the mortuary was shown to the judge in private.
Evans said 10 bodies were disturbed by Tingay opening refrigerators or removing their shrouds before committing his horrific acts.
At one point, Tingay tried to lift a patient by the blanket and appeared to strike another with his fist, the hearing was told.
After being disturbed by hospital staff, he was detained by security guards as he attempted to flee the morgue.
In a statement, a team member said: “I have seen a lot in my career. This was one of the worst things I have seen in my life.
“It was the indignity, the lack of respect. I couldn’t stop crying.”
Evans said when Tingay was arrested he was shouting and shouting that he had done nothing wrong and at one point claimed he had been blamed for a friend’s suicide and was searching for answers.
In an interview with police, he said he did not remember the incident.
Craig Lowe, defending, said Tingay wanted to “offer a sincere apology” and said the offense was “clearly out of character for this friendly, kind and caring man”.
The judge warned that if Tingay had not been disturbed there would have been even more victims, adding: “There is undoubtedly a very, very dark side to you.”
In addition to the prison sentence, Tingay was made subject to a lifetime Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
