A KNUTSFORD mother fears she may never learn the truth about what happened to her dead baby's organs.

On Monday Margaret Wood claimed it was unlikely she would get the whole truth from an independent inquiry into the retention of organs at the hospital where her son died.

"The investigators are a strand of the Government," she said. "So we fear that we will only get a bit of the truth from their investigation."

Last night (Tuesday) Mrs Wood, and hundreds of other families searching for the truth about their babies' deaths, met with representatives from the Retained Organs Commission, which is leading the inquiry.

In the meeting, at the Britannia Hotel in Manchester, parents were expected to quiz medical experts about whether they could ensure it would be an independent inquiry.

"We want the truth about what happened to our babies after they died and why the organs were retained without parental consent," she said.

"The only way to get to that truth is for a totally independent inquiry."

Mrs Wood's seven-week-old son was stripped of most of his organs after he died at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Pendlebury, in 1972.

And last year a chance inquiry led to the heartbreaking news that she had buried an empty shell.

"Like all the other Manchester families affected by this I just want the truth," she said. "And I think that's the least we deserve."

The investigation, which is due to be completed by the end of the year, will 'examine claims that there has been widespread inappropriate removal of children's organs following post mortems by pathologists at hospitals in Manchester.'

But it will also determine whether organs were given to Manchester University for research and how the organs have been disposed of by the hospitals.