The court heard Phillips moved downstairs to sleep next to his mother's body. At times he would open the freezer and hold her hand.

Sylvia Phillips had 26 appointments with her local GP practice in 2021, and six in 2022, after which there was no further contact.

The court heard she was last seen in A&E on 24 September 2022 and her local GP made a house call on 26 September but her son continued to pick up her prescriptions.

Sylvia Phillips was invited to a review by the practice, but her son said she would not come to the surgery and she did not need the blood tests.

Christopher 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 the death been reported.

He had been her primary carer since 2008, and the court heard he had resigned from his job in late 2022 when her health declined further. The pair were described as "somewhat isolated".

Ruth Smith, defending, said Phillips had told police: "I basically didn't want to let her go."

She added: "He described talking to her as if she was still alive… Sitting next to her, talking to her about television programmes, Coronation Street, the horse racing, just as they always did," she said, adding that he was a "vulnerable individual".

Phillips sobbed in the dock as Smith said her client was "extremely close to his mother" and was in "extreme grief" following her death.

She said he showed a "lack of acceptance" about her passing and "had almost created a false narrative that she was still alive".

Sentencing Phillips, Judge Lloyd-Clarke said he had "deliberately concealed" his mother's death and "took steps to give the impression that she was still alive".

"You continued to collect her prescription and lied to medical professionals and eventually the police," Lloyd-Clarke added.

"Rather than notify the authorities and make arrangements for her lawful burial, you purchased a chest freezer on March 10th and concealed her body within it," she said.

Lloyd-Clarke added that a timescale for confiscation proceedings would follow.