'Very good reason' needed to exhume young father's body

Father of three Jamie Robert Pooley died in May, 2011.

A judge would require "a very good reason" to allow a Christchurch woman to exhume the body of her partner who died four years ago so that she can have him cremated, a legal expert said today.

The family of a Christchurch father-of-three Jamie Robert Pooley, 27, who died on May 14, 2011, is fighting a legal battle to block his partner, Cheyenne Biddle from disturbing his grave.

The former under-18 New Zealand rugby league player and Aranui High School student was buried at Memorial Park Cemetery in Christchurch.

Friends and family, including his three sons, often visit his gravesite to pay their respects.

But now Ms Biddle wants to exhume his body for cremation.

Earlier today Ms Biddle declined an invitation to talk to NZME. News Service.

"My lawyer has advised that it is not in our best interest to discuss the case while it is still before the courts," she said.

The Pooley family are fighting the move.

They are seeking an injunction at the High Court in Christchurch and will be in court in August.

Dr Chris Gallavin, dean of law at Canterbury University, said that "as a basic rule" nobody has proprietary rights over a body.

Executor of the estate, and if there is not an executor nominated, then next of kin, usually decides what happens with a loved one's body.

But given that Mr Pooley died more than four years ago, Ms Biddle will have "some difficulty" in convincing the court to exhume his body, even if she is his executor, Dr Gallavin said.

"The court will need a very good reason to disturb this person who has laid in peace for the last four years," he said.

It was a "difficult" case for the courts, Dr Gallavin said.

The High Court judge would likely encourage the parties to solve their differences through mediation, he believed, citing the long-running legal battle over the body of James Takamore, which finally resolved after eight years earlier this month behind-closed-doors mediation.

Mr Takamore died in 2007 and was due to be buried in Christchurch.

But his Tuhoe whanau allegedly snatched his body, claiming Maori custom.

They buried him at Kutarere Marae alongside other relatives in the Bay of Plenty, against Mr Takamore's long-time Pakeha partner Denise Clarke's wishes.

Mr Pooley's family launched a petition on change.org, 'To keep our brother Jamie Pooley at rest'.

However, the petition was removed at the weekend, after it had received 275 supporters and started to be shared on social media.

"It's gone far enough," Ms Pooley, 34, told NZME. News Service yesterday.

A spokeswoman for the Pooley family said they don't want Mr Pooley disturbed.

"It just seems right to leave him where he is," she said.

"As far as we're concerned he's been laid to rest."

When the family first heard of the partner's sudden desire to exhume him last year, they were stunned.

"It definitely came out of the blue," the spokeswoman said.

The question of cremation never arose when Mr Pooley's funeral was being planned, the family said, adding that cremation goes against both Maori and Catholic customs.