A 60-year-old man has been jailed for two years and four months after keeping his mother’s body in a chest freezer for nearly three years while fraudulently claiming more than £78,000 (about Sh13.8 million) in her state benefits.
Christopher Phillips, of Porthcawl in Bridgend County, Wales, pleaded guilty to preventing a lawful and decent burial and multiple counts of fraud.
The court heard that his mother, Sylvia Phillips, 89, died in March 2023.
Two days later, Phillips bought a chest freezer online, placed her body inside and kept it in the family’s dining room.
Her remains were discovered in February 2026 after police carried out a welfare check requested by her GP surgery, which had become concerned after repeated failed attempts to contact her.
Phillips initially told officers his mother had moved to London and did not want medical tests.
A search of the house, however, uncovered her body wrapped in a leopard-print blanket inside the freezer.
Yellow and pink roses and a birthday card signed, “To Mum, from Christopher and Tina”, referring to the family dog, were placed beside her.
A post-mortem examination could not establish the exact cause of death because of the prolonged freezing, although investigators found no evidence of foul play.
Defence lawyer Ruth Smith told the court Phillips had cared for his mother full-time since 2008 and was overwhelmed by grief after her death.
She said he struggled to accept the loss, moved downstairs to sleep beside the freezer and would sometimes open it to hold her hand and talk to her.
Despite this, Phillips continued collecting £78,190.92 (about Sh13.8 million) in state pension, pension credit, attendance allowance, winter fuel payments and housing benefits that should have stopped after his mother’s death.
Sentencing him, Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke said Phillips deliberately concealed the death and repeatedly misled authorities.
“You continued to collect her prescription and lied to medical professionals and eventually the police,” the judge said.
Phillips will serve 40 percent of his 28-month sentence in custody before being released on licence. Authorities have also begun confiscation proceedings to recover the fraudulently claimed benefits.
