Woman to be exhumed after council makes a grave error

A WOMAN’s remains must be exhumed and moved from her grave after they were buried in a plot that had already been sold to someone else.

Jennifer Phillips bought the plot in 1987 so that she and her husband could be buried next to her parents. But when she visited her parents’ grave two years ago, she noticed a wooden cross on the space she had reserved.

It emerged that the council’s poor record-keeping meant the space in Welton Road Cemetery, Daventry, had been resold in 2015 to Sonia Ducker, whose mother, Sandra Cleaver, was then buried there after cremation.

Now Mrs Cleaver, who died at the age of 72, must be exhumed after a church court ruled that it would be detrimental for Mrs Phillips to continue to visit her parents’ graves and

‘[There were] several errors surrounding the attempts to remedy the situation, which could have been avoided’

see the grave where she was meant to be buried with someone else in it.

David Pittaway QC, chancellor of the diocese of Peterborough, said the case was a rare exception to the principle that Christian burial was permanent and remains should not be disturbed.

He added that, if the exhumation did not take place, the two families could end up visiting their relations at the same time, which could cause “unnecessary stress and distress”.

He said there were “several errors surrounding the council’s attempts to remedy the situation, which could, with more care, have been avoided”.

The council agreed to pay costs up to £1,500 for each family, but both had to hire lawyers for the hearing, including a QC, and are thought to have incurred legal costs reaching into the tens of thousands of pounds.

In his judgment, Mr Pittaway said the council needed to “show cause as to why they should not pay the other parties’ costs”.

A spokesman for Daventry district council said: “We are very sorry for the distress our mistake has caused and we have offered our most sincere apologies to both of the families involved.

“We will fully comply with the consistory court’s judgment.”