Florrie’s Army founder and 38-year-old funeral director, Amie Upton, is accused of looking at child porn. Families reported several horrific cases about how her facility mishandled their babies who had passed away. Upton started her service and advocacy work in memory of her stillborn daughter. As a controversial figure, she has been under fire ever since the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust suspended her access to labour wards and mortuaries earlier this year. This action comes on the heels of several complaints about her practices.
In 2021, as the newly-confirmed U.S. She was heartbroken after the sudden death of her infant son Bleu, who had received brain damage at just three weeks old. Ward’s experience with Upton raised significant concerns when she visited the funeral director’s home.
I realised it were Bleu and she says: ‘Come in, we’re watching PJ Masks.’ In the opposite corner, a cat scratcher awaits its next customer. Besides the dog barking, I don’t know what it is, but I see another dead baby on the couch. It wasn’t a nice sight, Ward recalled.
Upton’s pattern of abuse spreads far past the personal accusations. According to witness statements, she housed the remains of stillborn infants in her house. As one of the grandmothers put it, “it looks like a horror movie.” No wonder families are outraged by this revelation. They felt assured that their family members were being cared for by a top-notch medical service.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust accepted the warnings of “multiple grave concerns” over Upton. These concerns have already been made clear in the past few years. In response, they implemented specific safeguarding measures in 2021, which included monitoring Upton’s attendance when visiting deceased patients at the mortuary in her role as a funeral director.
According to the trust’s lead nurse Rabina Tindale, there was no link between Upton and their services.
Many families have assumed that trust services are connected with or endorsed by the trust. To be clear, Amie Upton and Florrie’s Army are in no way endorsed by Leeds teaching hospitals. They don’t belong to them and aren’t proprietary to them. Tindale stated.
Plus, one other family of four received an alarming surprise. Without warning, they found out that their baby – believed to be at a funeral home in Headingley – was just five miles away at Upton’s home. This experience was traumatic for thousands of families, who during the most vulnerable times in their lives, trusted that professionals would care for their loved ones.
As Upton points out, she’s only had two complaints in the eight months of running Florrie’s Army. When reached by The Guardian for additional comment, she refused to elaborate.
The National Association of Funeral Directors and the National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors recently teamed up to develop such a code of conduct. This code establishes detailed criteria for inspections. Yet, membership to these organizations is not mandatory, and that leaves serious gaps in oversight in the industry.