A 54-year-old man has been given a suspended jail sentence for concealing the body of his elderly mother in a freezer at their home in Portsmouth to continue receiving her benefits.
Philipe Brough pleaded guilty to preventing a lawful and decent burial and fraud. The body of his 90-year-old mother, Louise Brough, was found in the freezer of their flat in August last year. A postmortem examination found she had died of natural causes but had been dead since about the end of February.
Brough admitted failing to disclose her death to the Department for Work and Pensions to continue claiming her pension and carer's benefits. The total falsely claimed was £5,390, of which he had repaid £2,000.
Prosecutor Martyn Booth told Portsmouth Crown Court that concerns were raised when the council attempted to contact Mrs Brough about refurbishment works. Brough was evasive and refused access, leading to police involvement. He initially claimed his mother was with an aunt in London, but this was false.
When police searched the flat, described as being in disarray and typical of a hoarder, they found the freezer hidden behind a mattress and covered with a cardboard box. It was plugged in, with tape across the door seals. Inside was Mrs Brough's body, frozen solid and wrapped in a duvet.
Defence lawyer Matthew Jewell said Brough had a history of depression and panicked after his mother's death, fearing he would lose his home. Judge Roger Hetherington sentenced Brough to eight months' imprisonment suspended for 12 months, with a supervision order, accepting he acted out of an 'emotional inability to cope'.
