Widower's ashes mistakenly scattered 200 miles from where he wished to be with wife in 'crematorium blunder'

By PATRICK HARRINGTON, UK NEWS REPORTER Published: 08:02, 16 June 2026 | Updated: 08:28, 16 June 2026 The ashes of a widower who wanted to be interred with his wife were mistakenly scattered 200 miles away in a devastating blunder by a Labour council crematorium. Mining engineer John Bishop, 89, was cremated after his funeral in Cwmbran, south Wales, and his son David planning to collect the ashes two weeks later. But the grieving son, 60, was 'dumbstruck' to learn the remains had already been scattered without his permission by Gwent Crematorium, run by Newport Council. David, an only child, said he was left feeling 'empty and helpless' that his parents would never be reunited after their deaths, as they had all hoped. He said: 'It feels so empty that at the end of his life he has been treated so disrespectfully.' John's body was cremated at the Gwent Crematorium in Cwmbran, and David had planned to transport the ashes to Babworth, Nottinghamshire, where his mother June's ashes lie. David, from Caerleon, Gwent, described his father as a 'lovely' and 'colourful character' who was 'well respected'. He added that his large beard meant 'everyone saw him as kind of a Father Christmas lookalike'. John Bishop passed away at 89, and his ashes were mistakenly scattered by the crematorium John and June Bishop, who had hoped to be interred together, pictured on their wedding day David Bishop, left, was left 'dumbstruck' to learn he could not fulfill the wishes of his father, right, by reuniting his ashes with his wife's John moved into a care home to be near his son after June died in 2020, with whom he had been 'joined at the hip'. He then died suddenly at the end of April after being admitted to hospital for routine checks and suffering a heart attack. David said his father was 'very career-orientated', rising up through the ranks from an apprentice to become a mining engineer. John had requested for his funeral to be arranged with Co-op Funeralcare upon his father's request, after the company also organised his mother's funeral in the Midlands. Although John wanted his funeral to take place in south Wales, he had specifically asked for his ashes to be laid beside his wife's at Babworth Crematorium. The funeral all went to plan on May 26 - but David said everything changed when he emailed Gwent Crematorium to arrange collection of the ashes. He was told the ashes had already been scattered in the Garden of Remembrance by the crematorium, because 'they believed that was the instruction from the funeral director'. David said he was 'dumbstruck' - and said: 'I just couldn't believe it. Gwent Crematorium (pictured) has apologised to David over the 'deeply upsetting' situation 'I was thinking, "Am I really hearing this? How can this be? It just doesn't feel right." 'I'm still struggling to comprehend it.' David said Gwent Crematorium had been 'very apologetic' and told him an investigation was under way. He said: 'I'm assuming somebody's made a mistake somewhere, but nobody's admitted that yet. 'They've told me I have to wait until the investigation is finished, which will probably be next week. 'It just leaves me feeling empty and helpless. 'I've probably been more emotional over the last two days than since his death because it's just not right. 'I just feel hurt that I can't do what I need to do,' he added. A spokesperson for Co-op Funeralcare said its records showed the instructions provided to Gwent Crematorium 'reflected the wishes of our client'. The company said: 'We are deeply saddened to learn that our client's wishes were not followed and the understandable upset and distress this has caused, and we are continuing to support Mr Bishop and his family throughout.' A spokesperson for Newport City Council said an investigation was being carried out to 'find out how this happened to prevent it from happening again in the future'. 'We spoke to Mr Bishop yesterday but would like to apologise publicly to him and his family for what we recognise is a deeply upsetting situation,' it added. The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. 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