A man has been sentenced to prison for keeping his mother’s body in a freezer and fraudulently claiming her benefits. Christopher Phillips, aged 60, admitted to not giving his mother, Sylvia Phillips, a proper burial and storing her body in a freezer at his residence in Porthcawl, Wales for almost three years, all while receiving over £78,000 in benefits meant for her.
Phillips also confessed to committing fraud by not informing the authorities about his mother’s death, leading to his arrest after her body was found in the freezer on February 17. On Monday, at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court, Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke sentenced Phillips to two years and four months in prison.
During the court proceedings, it was revealed that Phillips had quit his job to care for his mother before her death on March 8, 2023. After her passing, he bought a chest freezer to store her body in the living room, covering it with a leopard print throw and placing roses and a birthday card next to it, signed from him, his dog, Tina, and himself. Phillips unlawfully received a total of £78,190.92 in benefits following his mother’s demise.
Police were alerted about the mother’s well-being, leading to the discovery of her body in the freezer at Phillips’ residence on Poplar Crescent. An inquest at Pontypridd Coroners’ Court revealed that the cause of Mrs. Phillips’ death remains unknown, pending further investigations after a post mortem examination at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.
Following the sentencing, Detective Chief Inspector Claire Lamerton of South Wales Police expressed sadness over the case, highlighting how Phillips concealed his mother’s death for personal gain. Lamerton extended sympathies to Sylvia’s family, hoping that they could find closure now that she has been laid to rest properly.
