A daughter who illegally buried her dad's body in a secret woodland broke the law, a court heard.
Eirys Brett, 31, and her partner Mark Watson, 46, carried out frail Donald Brett's dying wishes with the secret countryside burial - but broke the law after failing to legally register his death.
Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard how Donald, who was believed to be 78 or recently turned 79 when he died, made a dying request to be buried in woods in a medieval non-Christian style near his farmhouse home.
The couple, from Wales, then carried out his wishes in a "sense of love and loyalty".
Prosecutor Tom Scapens said Donald was last seen alive in June 2019 - but his body was not discovered until more than two years later.
Eirys and Mark were later arrested and said he had died from natural causes - as they told officers where they had buried him.
The court heard that when Donald was exhumed the body was wrapped in a hessian cotton blanket with twine wrapped in a cross pattern in a "medieval burial" pattern.
A number of items had been buried with the body including artistic supplies, poems and flowers.
The prosecutor said his cause of death was identified as a lung condition but also suffered from prostate cancer.
He said: "Donald Brett was revealed to be a non-conformist person in his approach to life. He lived in a unique way.
"He would not seek medical attention or advice unless it was completely unavoidable and if he had to seek treatment, he would only allow the minimal intervention.
"This is confirmed by medical notes and statements throughout the investigation.
"Donald Brett was a strong character and evidence has shown that he was firm in expressing his wishes to the defendants about how it was he wanted to die and how he wished to be buried.
"The defendants carried out those wishes both in a sense of love and loyalty to Donald Brett.
"But also because his wishes accorded with their own views about a person should live and receive medical attention.
"They were extremely misguided, but it was not malicious."
Nicholas Gedge, for Eirys, said: "It is clear this was something that happened out of something of loyalty and love.
"It was misguided but wasn't borne out of anything other than love and loyalty. She is of good character."
"In the days leading up to his death Donald Brett was undoubtedly in extreme ill health and in excruciating pain.
"They didn't override his wishes and take him to hospital when they should have done but, again, they did not do this with malicious intent rather because they had misguided and grave views and a loyalty to Mr Brett."
Judge, recorder Gregg Bull QC told them: "You took every loving care in burying him. This was not a rushed burial in the dead of night in some underhand way.
"The way in which he was buried showed that you loved him, and I take that into account.
"It seems to me that I will have to pass a sentence of imprisonment because the public requires that the dead are dealt with in a decent way."
"You are a loving couple who were faced with the death of Miss Brett's father from natural causes.
"By reason of your respective lifestyles, it was hoped that he could be buried with an unconventional method.
"You chose to give him his last rites in what can be best described as some sort of pagan funeral.
"Everybody's entitled to their beliefs and make no comment about yours. But you should have gone about it in a different way.
"You could have achieved the same objective by following the law and that is not simply where you think or where he thinks is appropriate.
"But where you are permitted to bury him and to register the death - those were the two things you failed to do."
The couple were handed four month suspended sentences.
