UK man jailed for keeping dead mother in freezer and claiming her pension

A British man was jailed for over two years on Monday for keeping his deceased mother in a freezer for nearly three years and fraudulently collecting about £80,000 of her benefits. Christopher Phillips, 60, admitted to preventing lawful burial and fraud. Phillips stored his 89-year-old mother Sylvia Phillips' body in a freezer at their home in Porthcawl, Wales, after her death in March 2023 until his arrest in February 2026. He received roughly £78,000 in pension and benefit payments, while police have yet to establish her cause of death. Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke sentenced Phillips to two years and four months, noting his mother suffered indignity while he misled medical professionals. Phillips' lawyers said he was a vulnerable individual who didn't want to let her go, having been her primary caregiver for years.