Stockport woman jailed for manslaughter of father

Thursday, 12 July 2018 07:00

A Stockport woman who hit her father over the head with a spade and buried him in the garden has been jailed.

Barbara Coombes, 63, of Matlock Road, Stockport was sentenced after pleading guilty to manslaughter, preventing a lawful burial and fraud at Manchester Crown Square yesterday (11 July).

The court heard how in January 2006, Barbara Coombes had been gardening at her father’s home when she went into the house and saw a box of photographs on the dining table.

When she realised these were explicit images of a child, Coombes took the spade she had been using from the garden, confronted her 87-year-old father Kenneth in the lounge, and hit him over the head.

The following day Coombes ordered a tonne of soil which was used to bury Kenneth in their back garden.

She concealed her father’s death from the rest of the family and authorities. She continued to live in his home, claiming his benefits and using his money. 　

Over the 12 years that Kenneth’s death was undisclosed, Coombes fraudulently profited from over £180,000 in benefits.

She was jailed for nine years.

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