Neighbours believed a dead woman whose body was kept in a freezer by her son for nearly three years had not been seen in public because she was “agoraphobic”.
Son jailed for hiding mother's death
Christopher Phillips, 60, was jailed on Monday after admitting to keeping the body of his mother Silvia, 89, frozen in the living room of their home in Poplar Crescent, Porthcawl. He hoodwinked the authorities for years, despite repeated attempts to contact his mother about concerns for her welfare. Phillips, who also fraudulently received more than £78,000 in benefits following her death, was described by neighbours as “quiet” and someone who “kept himself to himself”.
Silvia's body was eventually found by police on February 17 wrapped in a leopard print blanket with rose petals scattered over her body and a birthday card signed by her son and her dog.
Neighbours express regret
One neighbour said they were told upon moving into the street that they wouldn't see Phillips' elderly mother because she was “agoraphobic” – a condition commonly associated with a fear of open spaces or leaving the house. They said: “I don't know how many people knew about that or where that came from. That's the only thing we ever sort of knew about them.
“It just seems to be a very sad story. I don't personally think he was a bad guy. I don't think he was well. It's crazy and I think it's a failure of our community to be honest, myself included, that we didn't really communicate enough with him. It strikes me as quite a failure that we as a sort of group of neighbours didn't become aware of it sooner, so I sort of regret that.
“He didn't strike me as someone who was super weird, he just came across as someone quiet. It's worrying how it went under the radar.”
Details of the case
The court heard Phillips had left work to become a full-time carer for his mother in the months leading up to her death in March 2023. Following her death, for which the cause remains unknown, Phillips purchased a chest freezer and used this to store her body inside the living room of the property. The court heard the body was covered with a leopard print throw and found alongside roses and a birthday card, reading “To Mum, from Christopher and Tina”, a reference to the family dog.
Another neighbour said it was “creepy” to learn that the body of Ms Phillips had been frozen in the living room of the property for years. “We've been here 10 years and we've only seen (Phillips) about three times,” they added. “We had no idea that (his mother) was living there.”
Another neighbour said: “It's a shock, I guess, it's a nice street. He was quite quiet, he kept himself to himself.” “Perhaps that was his way of dealing with things,” another said. “Perhaps he just couldn't grieve in the way most people do.”
Discovery and sentencing
The body of Ms Phillips was found by police officers in February after concerns for her welfare were raised by the medical practice she previously attended. Phillips received a total of £78,190.92 in state pension, pensions credit, attendance allowance, winter fuel payments, cost-of-living payments and housing benefit payments, which would have ceased had Ms Phillips' death been reported.
On Monday, Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke, the Recorder of Cardiff, sentenced him to two years and four months' imprisonment.
