A Porthcawl man has been jailed for two years and four months after keeping his mother’s body in a chest freezer at their home for nearly three years while continuing to claim her pension and benefits.
Christopher Phillips, 60, bought the freezer two days after Sylvia Phillips died at the age of 89 in March 2023. Her body was found at the house in Poplar Crescent in February this year, after her GP surgery asked police to check on her.
By then he had collected £78,190.92 in payments in her name, Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard.
Flowers, a blanket and a birthday card
When officers opened the freezer they found Sylvia Phillips wrapped in a leopard print silk blanket, with yellow and pink roses laid on her body.
There was also a birthday card, signed from her son and the family dog. “To Mum, from Christopher and Tina,” it read.
The court heard that the day after his mother died on 8 March 2023, Phillips held her in his arms and told her he would look after her. He bought the freezer from AO.com two days later.
He later told doctors he “did not want to let her go” and had “wanted more time”.
The GP appointments that stopped
Sylvia Phillips had 26 appointments with her local surgery in 2021 and six in 2022. After that there was no further contact.
She was last seen in A&E on 24 September 2022, and a GP made a house call two days later.
Her son kept collecting her prescriptions. When the practice invited her in for a review, he said she would not attend and did not need blood tests.
The surgery made repeated attempts to reach her and was refused access to the house.
‘You took steps to give the impression that she was still alive’
South Wales Police went to Poplar Crescent on 17 February this year. Phillips told officers his mother had moved to London to stay with cousins, but could not say which cousins or where they lived.
Officers noticed he was trembling and fidgeting. He went upstairs, and was heard telling a girlfriend on the phone that the police were going to arrest him.
A search found a freezer with flowers on top. Sylvia Phillips was inside, completely frozen. It was some time before a post-mortem examination could be carried out.
Phillips answered no comment when interviewed. He later admitted preventing the lawful and decent burial of a body, and fraud by false representation, at Cardiff Crown Court in March.
Sentencing him, Judge Lloyd-Clarke said he had “deliberately concealed” his mother’s death and “took steps to give the impression that she was still alive”.
“You continued to collect her prescription and lied to medical professionals and eventually the police,” she said.
“Rather than notify the authorities and make arrangements for her lawful burial, you purchased a chest freezer on March 10th and concealed her body within it.”
The judge said a timescale for confiscation proceedings would follow.
What happens now
The cause of Sylvia Phillips’s death has not been established, and an inquest will be held. Police have said there were not thought to be suspicious circumstances.
Detective Chief Inspector Claire Lamerton, who led the investigation, called it an extremely sad case in which Phillips concealed his own mother’s death and profited financially over a significant period.
“My thoughts are with Sylvia’s loved ones during such a difficult time, and I hope they have found some peace having been able to properly lay her to rest,” she said.
Phillips was arrested at the scene in February, when police confirmed only that a woman in her 80s had been found dead at the property.
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