A man broke into a funeral home and robbed his mother-in-law’s body after he couldn’t contact the company.
The man from Rochester, who has not been named, told media he was worried the body would not be returned in time for the funeral and said he wanted to give her “a proper send off” for his wife.
The original funeral director, Butterfly Funeral Services of Rochester, Kent, has since been banned from trading and another funeral director carried out the service on the same day instead.
The man told media: “I had no option, I’d even spent two days at the police station trying to track the owner down, but I just couldn’t get hold of her. I had to get the body out. I had taken on all of the organising and I didn’t want to bother my wife at this time. She still to this day doesn’t know what happened and I won’t be telling her.”
The man’s actions took place a year ago but only came to light this week when bailiffs repossessing the premises discovered 16 urns and reunited them with the rightful owners.
The owner of the business Karen Calder claimed she was ill at the time and was forced to close the business.
She said: “I sincerely apologise if the families I have served have had difficulty in contacting me.”
