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buried
Helen Smith died after falling from a balcony in Saudi - her Dad is convinced it was murder and as such refuses to have her buried - her body is at Leeds Gen Infirmary
30 years is a long time to leave her and not put her to rest ?
What does everyone else think ?
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Very sad for the family, but I would want her buried and at rest by now. Her father must be in a terrible state after all this time.
Liz
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OMG ..........poor girl will never rest in peace...
How do the hospital allow this to go on ....30 years !!
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It is a long time, however, he obviously thinks it is his duty to find her "killer". Very sad situation. I would hate to be in his situation.
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Bless him - I think he is 81 and still determined to prove her murder but the Police say the case is closed
I wonder what will happen to her body when he passes ?
Ver sad for all concerned
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How sad that is,
If no more can be done with forensic evidence thats available now....then its unlikely anything more can be done.
Im suprised its not been taken out of his hands to be honest,
But the parent must do what they feel is right aswell and hope he find some answers.
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Newspaper article in 2004
I still can't bury my Helen 25 years on
From the Telegraph & Argus, first published Saturday 10th Apr 2004.
The body of nurse Helen Smith, who died in mysterious circumstances in Saudi Arabia, is still lying unburied in a mortuary 25 years after her death.
And the father of the Guiseley woman, who died after a drinks party at a block of flats, says he will continue his battle to discover the truth about how she met her fate.
Helen died along with another man during the illegal party at a block of hospital flats in Saudi Arabia in 1979.
Her father, former policeman Ron Smith, has refused to allow a funeral for his daughter until he gets the truth he craves.
Helen's body has earned a macabre place in the record books as being the longest period of time a body has not been buried or cremated in Britain.
After six post mortem examinations and forensic tests, what is left of her remains is in a sealed casket stored in the mortuary at Leeds General Infirmary.
Mr Smith, 76, has spent a quarter of a century tirelessly fighting to prove that his daughter Helen was murdered at the party in the Saudi capital of Jeddah on May 20, 1979. He has always alleged there was a top-level cover-up and is still demanding a full investigation to establish the facts about his daughter's death.
The Government has consistently snubbed his requests for an official inquiry into the affair.
"I've remorselessly agitated for a full public inquiry but the powers that be have just kicked me into touch so to speak," said Mr Smith.
Helen, 23, was found dead in the street next to a Dutch sea captain, Johannes Otten, 35, who had been at the same party. His body was discovered impaled on spiked railings at street level.
The party had been hosted by British ex-patriates Dr Richard Arnot and his wife Penny.
Jeddah police insisted the pair had fallen 70 feet from the balcony of the seventh floor flat where the party had taken place, while having sex.
Mr Smith's suspicions were aroused only hours after Helen's death when he was told by the Foreign Office that she had fallen from the sixth floor of the Bakhsh Hospital where she worked. But the hospital has only three floors.
Mr Smith then visited Saudi Arabia twice trying to ferret the truth out of the authorities. He paid for independent post mortem examinations of her body to try and establish what had really happened.
Initially, Mr Smith's demands for an inquest into his daughter's death were snubbed. But his persistence paid off. In 1982 a ruling by the then Lord Chief Justice Lord Lane changed the Coroner's Act and allowed inquests to be held on British subjects who died abroad.
A controversial Leeds inquest into the nurse's death was held three and a half years later in November 1982. It returned an open verdict by a 9-2 majority.
The drama-filled proceedings cost more than £50,000. The bill was footed by the then West Yorkshire County Council.
The first witness was Dr Michael Green who admitted that his conclusions about Helen's injuries at the post mortem had been wrong. He apologised for his mistake.
The coroner Philip Gill described the inquest as "the most complex and difficult case ever to come before a coroner's court".
In the 22 years since the inquest, Mr Smith has stubbornly refused to abandon his quest for justice.
"In this life people have parental responsibilities and humanitarian responsibilities. I have parental responsibility for my daughter Helen. I have a humanitarian duty to Captain Johannes Otten.
"I saw the body of Otten and it was in a frightful mess and believe me I have seen some bodies in my life in the police force. Knowing what I know, I would not be fulfilling my duty if I had to walk away and say it is nothing to do with me."
He will still not allow a funeral for his daughter. Her body is still stored in a sealed casket in the mortuary of Leeds General Infirmary where it has lain since being brought back to Britain in June 1980.
Mr Smith has amassed huge quantities of information about the gruesome events of May 1979 and detailed dossiers of those he claimed were directly involved in her death.
He added: "The truth hasn't been brought out or presented before the British public.
"I wrote to Mr Blair and to Mr Straw and to Mr Prescot, laying out the circumstances and requesting a public inquiry. They refused.
"Truth and justice for Helen. Truth and justice for Otten. And last but not least, truth and justice for me. Because Helen and Johannes Otten have not had this for the last 25 years. It's Joe Soap here who's had to live it."
A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: "We were actively involved in the case of Helen Smith following her death in 1979 until 1988. The Foreign Office hasn't been involved in the case since then and therefore it would be in appropriate for us to comment further."
A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "Detectives from West Yorkshire Police carried out a thorough investigation at the time of Miss Smith's death, proceeding on the information that was made available to them.
"The officers went to Saudi Arabia in order to conduct their enquiry and made a full report to HM Coroner on their return. Nothing of an evidential nature has come to light since that would initiate any re-investigation.
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30 years God wasit that long ago, i remember it
Common sense should prevail here ,
If it Was murder then with modern day techniques and d.n a was needed to prove guilt then exhumation is still a blooby good bet , let her rest in peace .
igor
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Saudi Arabia having the Rulers it has, and being the closed country it is, will manage to hide the truth for as long as it can. This has been proven in the past with various hostage incidents, the alcohol war fiasco of 2000/2001 etc etc...ALL because the truth will show the country in a bad light.
I don't think Helen Smith's death was an accident.
What I do know is that the whole incident (alcohol, a party, single men and women mixing with each other) is actually illegal in Saudi, so they will do their level best to cover it up. And not least because there were some high profile Saudi's at that party, it wasn't all expats, so this would be even worse for Saudi's image.
Not burying Helen Smith may seem somewhat gruesome of her father, but I can see the man's point. He is not satisfied with what the authorities have told him, and hopes there can be further investigation in time. Unfortunately, being Saudi, it will not be until there is a complete change of Rule and Ruler - unless an extremely competent investigative journalist can blow the lid off the cover....it has been done before.
K
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There was that baby as well whos father wouldnt bury him as wouldnt accept to cause of death council got a court order in the end to have him buried that was over 20 years I think.
However hard it is to accept I think she needs to be buried after such a awful death she needs the dignity of a good burial not just laid in a fridge.
Do feel for her dad though must be hard to accept when he hasnt got the answers he needs.
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