Overview
- A Portsmouth Crown Court jury found Richard Elkin, 49, and Hayley Bell, 42, guilty of intentionally causing a public nuisance, preventing lawful burial, and carrying on a business with intent to defraud creditors.
- Elkin was also convicted of making and using a false instrument and of possessing pepper spray.
- High Court enforcement agents repossessing the Gosport premises in December 2023 discovered two unrefrigerated bodies in deteriorating conditions, including one left for 36 days.
- Prosecutors said 46 bodies were kept in an unrefrigerated room between June 2022 and December 2023, and one family was falsely told a cremation had occurred despite a prepaid plan.
- The pair were released on conditional bail for sentencing on 19 February 2026, as police, CPS officials and the local MP called for clearer laws and stronger regulation of the sector.