Son who kept mum's body in freezer for years collected £78k of her benefits
Christopher Phillips’ mother, Sylvia, had yellow and pink roses and a birthday card placed on her body.
By BBC News
Christopher Phillips has been jailed after keeping his mother’s body in a freezer at home for nearly three years while continuing to claim more than £78,000 of her benefits.
Phillips, 60, admitted preventing the lawful and decent burial of his mother, Sylvia Phillips, who was 89. He also pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud after failing to tell the Department for Work and Pensions and Bridgend County Borough Council that she had died.
The court heard that Phillips bought a chest freezer after her death and kept her body in the living room of the property in Porthcawl, Wales. Her body was found covered with a leopard-print throw and alongside yellow and pink roses and a birthday card reading: “To Mum, from Christopher and Tina”.
He was arrested after the body was discovered on 17 February. At Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court, Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke, the Recorder of Cardiff, sentenced him to two years and four months in prison.
The amount received after his mother’s death was given in court as £78,190.92.