How will it help anyone if this man goes to prison?

[DecisionTime123]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0rd0r5zez9o
Man kept his dead mother in the freezer, held her hand and chatted to her.

I definitely agree he needs to pay the benefits etc back if possible, but they are letting rapists out of prison as they don't have the room, yet this clearly mentally ill man has to be locked up? YABU = he deserves punishment in custody or YANBU = it won't help anybody, he should get a suspended sentence

I started out feeling sorry for him, as I have a friend whose son is on the spectrum and I suspect would fail to report her death should something happen to her, and would probably just close the door of the room she died in and try to ignore that anything had happened.

But the fact that he deliberately concealed her death (by buying the freezer) and tried to put doctors off (by saying she didn't want an appointment) shows that there was a degree of calculation involved. And we only have HIS word that he 'loved her so much he couldn't let her go'. All the handholding stuff - there's no proof apart from his word. I wondered whether benefits and pension were being paid into his mum's account and he was just ignoring that the money kept on coming, but it also doesn't sound as though this was the case either. So if it had just been a matter of 'not declaring a death' and panicking and putting her in the freezer because he literally had no idea what do to (which is what my friend's son would do) - this has an element of purpose about it. So I think a prison sentence is necessary, even though he's not likely to do it again, he spent money that he KNEW he wasn't entitled to.

It depends on if he spent the money. He obviously had to keep collecting her prescriptions and pension if he didn’t want people to know she was dead. If he collected it and spent it then it’s more difficult to claim he only kept her body as he couldn’t bear to let her go.

But I do understand the impact of grief and the desire to keep her near. I speak as someone who still has my parents’ ashes as for complicated reasons I can’t settle on a final resting place for them. I’m dreading letting them go.

I don't think the debt should be written off. Jailing him at more expense to the tax payer won't repay the debt though.

Such a sad story, they must have had absolutely nobody in their lives if nobody had reached out to her in that time.

The birthday card from him and the dog! And the fact that he moved downstairs to sleep with her. It seems it was more about not being able to face her death rather than the money itself.

No I can’t see what prison will do at all. He doesn’t seem to be a danger to anyone.

I mean he’ll be out in a year probably, so he absolutely will be wandering around in society.

He won't be wandering about looking for victims to freeze though.

I hope he gets some help while in jail for his MH. I highly doubt it though.

It’s hard for to focus on the question as l can’t get over how much he looks like David Walliams

But surely that’s the case with most crimes, there is an expense to us? Lots of people are jailed for offences like theft and fraud even if they are not a danger to anybody else. I’d also argue a significant number of people in prison have poor mental health, have suffered abuse, have been in care or are from dysfunctional families etc etc - why should this man be let off when nobody else is? It would make more sense to call for a reform of the entire prison system than to just focus on one criminal who you somehow think is more worthy of being let off than any other.

i suspect he will come out even worse than when he went in.

I think he's a very cunning man who denied someone the dignity of a burial. He deserves prison.

I think prison is appropriate. He clearly hasn’t got many social skills, being in close confines with other people will be good for him, and with any luck there will be a PO or teacher or social worker who can work on getting something in place for when he leaves. If he had community service he would just be on his own all the time, not making any progress.

A friends husband was imprisoned, I won’t say what for, he was always very odd, probably autistic, but prison was wonderful for him. He adapted to the routine , knowing what every day was going to bring, and because he was an educated man he found a niche helping young prisoners, and older ones, who could barely read to improve their skills, to write letters home, read and tape stories for their kids etc. He taught chess, taught people how to draw.

Er, nah. He lied. For 3 years. Ignored his mother’s contact from her GP. Lied to police saying she moved to London. Also bought the freezer AFTER she passed away. Claimed her benefits. And was then heard on the phone to a girlfriend saying “you’ve got the will.”

Im surprised you think he should be let off, OP. It’s awful. What an awful way to treat a family member.

He kept on taking her money, kept on collecting her prescriptions, kept on telling her GP surgery that she couldn't attend. Bought a freezer to keep her in. These are all deliberate acts - he wasn't just bumbling along - he was making decisions that ultimately led to his significant financial gain. Also what's the thing where he 'called a girlfriend on the phone and said: "police are going to arrest me, you've got the will" - hmm... so he gave the will of his dead mother to a girlfriend? Why?

I think he's sly even if he is vulnerable, the two are not mutually exclusive. It's not a long prison term and - he'll be out again before you know it, and benefits crime is a massive deal and should be treated with the according punishment. The outcome is clearly within the sentencing guidelines - maybe a spell inside will help him to rehabilitate his inclinations to cheat the state and deny the person he loved the most (apparently) the very basics of dignity in death.

Realistically, though, how would he stop the benefits? Without alerting someone to her death - which is what he couldn't bear.

Preventing a lawful burial is actually quite serious, he didn’t just not report her death he purchased a chest freezer and continued picking up prescriptions. There’s not much dignity in being bundled into a chest freezer.

Theres many many many people taking money from you and me but we have to OK with that....

has everyone else read up extensively on this case or something?

I'm not seeing anything in the OP link that suggests he couldn't cope with her death.

disregarding the holding hands with her a card from the him and the dog - that's all very much in the realms of normal when you have lost a parent that you're close to. I bought my dad a Father's Day card and he's been dead for years! It's no different than if there was a graveside I could've gone to chat to.

Ordering a chest freezer
Continuing to fetch prescriptions and so on - not normal.

oh, and it looks like he said to the doctor and said she didn't need to be seen. The doctor should not have taken his word for it. There's a massive safeguarding query there.

In the unlikely case of this actually being the case though, all the money would still be in his mother's account - or whichever account the pension and benefits were paid to. The fact that he spent the money is really what did for him.

He is clearly very mentally unwell. He has no family support and really needs compassionate help, He will be in prison with others who are also carrying mental health burdens.Who benefits?

As a previous poster pointed out we don;t have that much detail here really do we, so I thought I'd google. Wasn't expecting to find this:

https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Phillips-Christopher-Sentence.pdf

Seems that the real sentence is for preventing burial.

He's clearly in need of MH assessment. I agree pointless to lock him up.

I must admit that this crosses my mind all the time. If an air tag can trace my belongings to within feet, why aren’t “minor” offenders locked up in their own properties where possible? I know you couldn’t do it in cases involving dv and such, but surely to God there’s a way of locking up offenders like this man at their own expense, in their own homes? I’m sure there’ll be reasons why not but I struggle to come up with any.

For me, the motive is crucial. Did he continue claiming benefits because he couldn’t admit to anyone (maybe even himself) that his mother had died? Or did he conceal the death to continue claiming the benefits?
It's quite straightforward. If it is the former, he would have kept the money somewhere.

So the question is: does he have £80k in cash under the bed, or has it all been spent at the pub, nice food, holidays....

Now now, stop being sensible

this.