A couple whose baby son's brain was removed by the John Radcliffe Hospital and thrown away as "medical waste" is demanding court action and a full inquiry.

Paul and Barbie Clynes whose three-week-old son, Marc, was buried without his brain, called for medical staff involved in the removal and retention of organs at Oxford hospitals to be prosecuted.

Wanting answers: Paul and Barbie Clynes with a picture of Marc

The Clynes, pictured above at Marc's grave, knew their second child's brain had been removed during a post-mortem examination at the John Radcliffe in 1984 but were assured it had been replaced before the funeral. It was only when the Alder Hey scandal hit the headlines in 1999 that the Clynes, who live in Woodfield, Banbury, questioned whether anything had happened to Marc.

Mr Clynes said: "I want a full inquiry. I want the people who perpetrated these crimes to be charged and prosecuted. It's body-snatching. They have got no respect for a human being or a human life.

"They are very arrogant believing it is their God-given right to destroy and take what they wish.

"I always thought doctors would heal not mutilate."

Mr Clynes, 38, and his 34-year-old wife received a letter from consultant pathologist Dr Steve Gould, who led the internal inquiry at Alder Hey, telling them their son's brain had been "retained".

Mr Clynes added: "When you have to bury your own child it tears you apart.

"To find your child has been mutilated before he was put in the ground, and to find the parts were chopped up by people in laboratories with no feelings or, as in our case, to find the parts have been thrown away as medical waste there can be no words that can express the pain parents go through knowing that."

The father-of-five accused the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals Trust of trying to "minimise the damage to themselves" by releasing a statement apologising to relatives. "They think people won't ask so many questions because it is out in the open," he said.

More stories on the scandal