Woman who wants brother's ashes dug up from parents' grave claims he puts people off visiting

A woman has failed in her bid to have her brother's ashes removed from their parents' grave. Susan Bennett asked a judge for permission to exhume the remains of her brother Brian Yates from the grave of their parents at St George's Church, Unsworth, Bury.

Mrs Bennett alleged she and other relatives felt her parents' grave had been 'violated' as her brother was an excessive drinker who had been violent towards her mother and aunt. She claimed some members of the family now felt unable to visit the grave because Mr Yates' ashes were in it.

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The only people at the burial in May 2020 were Mr Yates' daughter Bethany Maher and another of his sisters, Jacqueline Haslam.

Ms Maher formerly objected to the exhumation application and Mrs Haslam indicated she did not agree with the proposal. Ms Maher claimed that Mr Yates' parents would have wanted him buried with them despite his alleged estrangement from the family.

Now Gregory Jones KC, Chancellor of the Diocese of Manchester, in his role as a judge of the Church of England’s Consistory Court has refused consent for Mr Yates' ashes to be moved.

Sticking to the Church of England Philosophy that a last resting place should be just that unless there are exceptional circumstances or there has been a mistake, he said it was an 'unfortunate case' involving a 'deeply fractured' family relationship.

But he said that despite the allegations against Mr Yates there was evidence that suggested he 'had some loving feeling for his mother (who suffered from dementia) and that these feelings were reciprocated'.

Mr Jones added that there was an 'absence of any concrete evidence pointing to Mr Yates' estrangement from his parents'. He said he did not consider there were 'exceptional circumstances' to justify exhumation.

When approached by the Manchester Evening News, Mrs Bennett said she planned to appeal against the decision.

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