British man jailed for two years and four months after keeping mother's body in fridge to claim pension
Christopher Phillips admitted keeping his mother’s corpse in a living‑room fridge for years while claiming her pension and withdrawing more than £78,000.
A 60-year-old British man, Christopher Phillips, has been sentenced to two years and four months in prison after admitting he kept his mother’s body in a household refrigerator for years so he could continue collecting her pension.
Court documents and reports say Phillips stored the body in the family home’s refrigerator in the living room for almost three years while withdrawing more than £78,000 from her accounts. He regularly placed flowers on top of the refrigerator.
Police said officers who visited the address were told the woman was staying with relatives in London. After seeing the flowers on the refrigerator and growing suspicious when Phillips would not say which relatives or where they lived, officers discovered the body.
Phillips, a former company director, had access to his mother’s bank account, repeatedly withdrew funds from her savings and made use of benefits in her name, according to the case summary.
The two had lived together for around 50 years, and Phillips had been the primary carer since 2008.
He pleaded guilty to preventing a lawful and dignified burial and to two counts of fraud. The sentence imposed was two years and four months in custody.
Photo: press material from the event
