Grieving mum wins her battle
A grieving mum who claims her son was buried "like a vagrant" has won a £400 out of court settlement against the funeral directors.
But determined Teresa Evans is still campaigning for a tightening of regulations governing undertakers to allow people more control over the funerals of their loved ones.
She launched the civil case against Matthews and Son on her own, after researching the procedure on the internet.
"It was a matter of principle; I was not bothered about the money, which is why I accepted such a low amount.
"I trusted this firm to send my son off with the dignity and love he deserved, but they let me down," she said.
Popular hairdresser Boyd Evans was killed in a road accident a year ago.
He was 20.
Heartbroken Teresa, aged 50, was determined his coffin should be filled with flowers and tributes from his family and friends.
But it was only after the funeral, when she was trying to trace Boyd's personal effects, that Teresa realised the clothes he had been wearing at the time of the accident were missing.
In her County Court Statement of Case, Teresa claimed the funeral director told her the bag of blood-stained clothes had been placed underneath Boyd's body in the coffin.
"It was like he was a vagrant, lying on top of dirty clothes...I felt I had to take action," she told the Citizen.
On Christmas Eve Teresa collected her cheque for 400, an amount suggested by Bletchley-based Matthews and Son.
Now she plans to spend the New Year helping other bereaved people by setting up a website offering practical help and advice about dealing with death and organising funerals.
"I want to get the message across that people have a choice about what happens to their loved ones after death.
"They can even organise their own funeral if they wish.
"I've learned a huge amount during my research for this case and I now hope to sign up for a course in consumer law with the Open University...I will do whatever it takes to ensure others do not have to go through what I did," she vowed.
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Weather for Milton Keynes
Thursday 24 May 2012
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