Jeffrey Hunt felt 'deep regret and shame'

Jeffrey Hunt, 60, of Tonteg, near Pontypridd, admitted two counts of making false entries in a register at two south Wales cemeteries.

He was ordered to carry out 180 hours of community service by a judge.

Rhondda Cynon Taf council, which administers the graveyards, has apologised to the families concerned.

Hunt falsified records for Lily Blackburn at Ty Rhiw cemetery in 2001 and for Michael Thorngate at Cefn-y-Parc cemetery in 2002, the court heard.

His job as sexton required him to locate and mark graves requested by a family ready for grave-diggers to open.

However, the court was told Mrs Blackburn's family stopped the funeral when they realised she was being buried in the wrong grave and not next to her husband as requested.

Excavations were carried out at Ty Rhiw cemetery

Prosecuting, Nicholas Jones said: "At the funeral it did not seem there was sufficient room for another burial to take place.

"There should have been five foot spare and there was only four."

Council officials then told the family they had been tending the wrong grave for 40 years and that Mr Blackburn, who died in 1959, was actually in the one they had uncovered.

The family were eventually proved correct, and Mrs Blackburn's coffin was exhumed and re-buried in the right plot next to her husband, the court heard.

Hunt persuaded a colleague to alter records for Michael Thorngates's burial after questions were asked about the location of his grave.

"He eventually blamed another gravedigger," said Mr Jones.

It seems you are an arrogant man who was unable to accept responsibility when you got things wrong Judge Hopkins

"He denied any wrongdoing at all. As far as he was concerned if something had gone wrong it wasn't his fault."

Hunt was originally charged with 19 counts of making a false entry, but no evidence was offered on four and the remainder were left on file.

Defending, Michael Mather-Lees said the system Hunt inherited from the previous sexton was poorly worked out, and he had gone into denial after the first mistake.

He told the court Hunt wanted to apologise and felt "deep regret and shame".

"It troubles him greatly and has troubled him to the point of suicide," he said.

'Caring'

Sentencing, Judge Stephen Hopkins QC said: "It seems you are an arrogant man who was unable to accept responsibility when you got things wrong.

"What you did will haunt you for the rest of your life and so it should."

He was also ordered to pay costs of �400.

Rhondda Cynon Taf's chief executive Kim Ryley said: "We want to assure the public that the actions of one rogue individual are not representative of the caring and professional approach of our staff.

"Thankfully cases of this kind are not common.

"But we have improved our procedures and measures are already now in place to ensure that this cannot happen again.

"We can only offer our sincere apologies for any distress [the families] have suffered."