A woman has incurred the wrath of family members after he took a photo of a dead man and sent it to Facebook.
Mr Michael Dene Ray died on December 21 last year and a coroner later ruled his death was as a result of suicide
According to
Dailymail, the woman reportedly removed the sheet covering Michael Dene Ray, 21, as his body lay in a funeral parlour and placed a friendship bracelet on his wrist.
She then took a photograph of his hand next to hers which wore an identical bracelet and posted the image on Facebook as a 'tribute' to Mr Ray, from Chadwell St Mary, Essex, who died in December.
But, according to Daily Mail, his family, including Mr Ray's sister Charley-Anne Semple, 25, were horrified by the photograph, which they say was taken without consent.
Mrs Semple, who is now campaigning for tighter controls at funeral parlours, has managed to get the picture removed from Facebook, but later learned that friends of Mr Ray were planning to wear a T-shirt featuring the offending image at a party to celebrate his birthday.
The family now fears the same image could be circulated further.
'We feel completely disrespected as a family that we gave people the opportunity to grieve for Michael Dene and it was thrown back in our faces,' Mrs Semple said.
'He was laid to rest so he was in peace, not so people could go along taking pictures of him like some sort of attraction.
'Due to his sudden death, we felt it only right that close friends and family had the opportunity to say their goodbyes.
'People shouldn't be allowed to take pictures in a funeral home, it is a place for people to gather to pay their own private respects, not share it with the world.'
Mr Ray was a well-known record producer who worked under the music name DairyDub (corr) to sell reggae-electronica dub style records all over the world.
He died on December 21 last year and a coroner later ruled his death was as a result of suicide.
Charley-Anne Semple and Michael Dene Ray are pictured together before his death in December last year
Mrs Semple said: 'He was such a happy and loved man.
'Because of the job he did he was known and loved by so much people in all different walks of life.
'It hit the community, and our family, incredibly hard, but it was very important to us that he was laid to rest properly and given the respect he deserved.'
In the days following his death, his body was placed in an open casket with a sheet over him to protect his dignity while those close to him were invited to visit and pay their last respects.
During that time, a mourner, who has not been named, removed the sheet, placed the bracelet on Mr Ray's hand as well as one on her own and another on a visiting friend, and the picture was taken.
Within hours, it had been posted on Facebook and linked to Mr Ray's page, where his friends and family could see it.
'I couldn't believe it when I saw it,' said Mrs Semple. 'It literally shocked us and devastated us and it's still so upsetting today.
'I was outraged, and it made the whole grieving process so much harder. She didn't even protect his dignity, she just went on to move his body and uncover him in order to take the photo.
'My parents were heartbroken and that's what made it so much more difficult. Michael Dene cared more about his family than anything and he wouldn't have wanted this if he knew it was upsetting his parents.
'I asked for it to be taken down and if she had just said, 'Yes of course, I'm so sorry', we would have moved on from it. But she refused and defended herself which is what hurt the most, when she was so out of line'
Eventually, following support of Mr Ray's friends, the image was taken off the internet, allowing the family to grieve.
But months later on June 4, they were 'sickened' to find the same image had been copied on to the back of a t-shirt to be worn to a memorial party, held on what would have been Mr Ray's 22nd birthday.
Full-time mother-of-two Mrs Semple, who is married to Danny, 26, said: 'It just feels malicious because she knew how we felt about it being on Facebook so why would she believe we'd be happy for that image to be aired on a t-shirt?
'I don't understand why she couldn't just grieve personally, it's sick what she did. I'm not disputing that she loved my brother but it's the total lack of respect for his family that hurts the most.
'A parent's job is to protect their children - why weren't Michael Dene's parents given the decency to be able to do that when they were going through the greatest loss possible?'
Mr Ray's friend Cazz Nixon, 26, has set up a petition calling for it to be made illegal for people to take photographs inside private funeral homes without the consent of the next of kin.
So far, more than 1,000 people have signed it, and Mrs Semple hopes it will encourage people to think about how their actions could affect grieving families.