Smell ‘gave away family who kept a mummified relative’

A MOTHER and her two children appeared in court yesterday charged with keeping the mummified remains of a third sibling at home after it was alleged they were given away by the smell.

Rina Yasutake, 49, a talented artist and Cambridge University graduate, was thought to have been dead for six weeks when police found her decomposing body on a mattress in one of the bedrooms.

A pharmacist reported her family to police as she was concerned about the excessive amount of surgical spirit they were buying.

The chemical was apparently being used to ‘cleanse’ the dead woman’s mummified corpse and the pharmacist told police ‘they smelled of dead bodies’, a court heard yesterday. The dead woman’s mother Michiko Yasutake, 76, brother Takahiro, 47, and sister Yoshika, 52, appeared at Scarborough Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

All are charged with an offence of preventing the lawful or decent burial of Rina’s body – an offence which can only be dealt with at the crown court.

The brother and sister held their mother’s hands and smiled at the bench as they were granted unconditional bail to appear at York Crown Court on December 2.

The trio were charged last week after a long and detailed police investigation that began with the discovery of the body in September last year. The court heard the family is still living in the same property in the North Yorkshire market town of Helmsley where the body was found.

Prosecutor Sarah Tyrer told the court: ‘The police were notified by a member of staff at the pharmacy at Helmsley Medical Centre that she had grave concerns about excessive quantities of surgical spirit a Japanese couple had been buying.

‘Reference was made to the fact they were using it for the cleansing of an individual called Rina Yasutake at 41 Bondgate. The pharmacist noted they smelled of dead bodies.’

No details of cause of death were revealed in court during the brief hearing.