In the UK, a man was sentenced to prison after hiding his mother's death for nearly three years, keeping her body in a freezer and illegally receiving her pension and social benefits. The Guardian reports, writes UNN.
Details
60-year-old Christopher Phillips kept the body of his mother, Sylvia Phillips, a former company secretary, in a large chest freezer that stood in the living room of their home in the coastal town of Port Talbot in South Wales.
Two days after her death, he bought a chest freezer, regularly placed flowers on it, and continued to talk to his mother about TV series and horse racing.
When police came to check on his mother, who was 89 at the time of her death, the man said she was in London. However, law enforcement found the body after noticing the flowers left on the freezer.
As the court in Merthyr Tydfil learned, the former company director used his mother's bank account after her death, withdrew money from savings, and received social benefits due to her.
Judge Tracy Lloyd-Clarke sentenced Phillips to two years and four months in prison.
During the sentencing, she stated:
"You continued to receive her prescription medications and misled medical professionals about her whereabouts, repeatedly claiming she did not want to attend appointments or undergo examinations.
Her pension and social benefits continued to be paid into bank accounts to which you had access."
Lawyer Ruth Smith stated that Phillips was "extremely close" to his mother. They lived together for 50 years, and since 2008 he had been her primary caregiver.
According to the defense attorney, during interrogation the man told police: "I just didn't want to let her go."
She also added:
"He said he talked to her as if she were alive... sat next to her, talked about TV programs, the series Coronation Street, horse racing — just as they always did.
Mr. Phillips was a vulnerable person and had serious mental health problems at the time of his mother's death."
The court also heard that a few months before his mother's death, which occurred in March 2023, Phillips left his job to care for her.
He was exposed after police came to the house for a welfare check on the woman - doctors became concerned because they had not been able to contact her for a long time.
When law enforcement arrived at the house in February this year, Phillips said his mother was in London with cousins. When asked to name them or provide an address, he could not answer.
The woman's body was found covered with a leopard-print blanket. Nearby lay roses and a card reading: "To Mom from Christopher and Tina," where Tina is the family's pet dog.
Phillips pleaded guilty to preventing a lawful burial and to two counts of fraud.
In total, he illegally obtained £78,190.92 in state pension, pension supplements, care allowance, winter fuel payments, cost of living compensation, and housing benefit. All these payments were supposed to stop after the official notification of his mother's death.