A funeral director who scammed a grieving family out of thousands of pounds has been jailed.
"Cruel" Mark Kerbey, 62, promised to arrange a service for a man's dead father - which never came to be.
Kerby, using the business name Trinity Funeral Home, offered cut-price rates to a man whose father had recently died at Southend Hospital in Essex.
But unbeknownst to the family, the company had been banned from using the facilities at Southend cemetery and Bowers Gifford Crematorium.
Despite knowing the funeral had not been arranged, Kerbey visited the family the night before the supposed date to give them an order of service.
When the congregation then arrived at Pitsea Crematorium, it became clear that no service had been arranged.
Kerbey blamed others when the grieving family tried to contact him, and promised a service could be held at his funeral home instead.
ESSEX POLICE
|Mark Kerbey, a funeral director who scammed a grieving family out of thousands of pounds, has been jailed
He sent a limousine, which was supposed to be used in a 13-year-old girl's birthday celebrations the same day, to pick up the family.
The group were then presented with a 15ft by 15ft room when they arrived at the funeral home, meaning many of them had to wait outside.
The service which then took place was 20 minutes long, and bore no resemblance to the man who died, according to police.
The family had paid Kerbey £2,600 to arrange the funeral, and gave him a further £700 to release the man's body into the care of a new funeral home.
When the person was finally laid to rest on March 17, 2020, no family members were present due to the amount of money already spent.
PC Daniel Hart described Kerbey's actions as "amongst the cruellest I have seen in my 18-year policing career".
He continued: "I'm glad that we have secured justice for the family despite his prolonged attempts not to be held accountable.
"Ultimately, he preyed on people at their most vulnerable and that is inexcusable."
Kerbey, of Station Road in Westcliff, Essex, was sentenced on Friday for seven years and three months in prison for fraud and perverting the course of justice at Norwich Crown Court.
He had already been found guilty by a jury in March, and had previously admitted separate charges, including two counts of perverting the course of justice and two counts of fraud by false representation.
ESSEX POLICE
|Leigh Stevenson re-scheduled her retirement just so she could bring the case to court
Hart's colleague, PC Leigh Stevenson, re-scheduled her retirement just so she could bring the case to court and "seek justice for the victims".
About Stevenson, Hart said: "I am pleased I was able to see the right result returned for Leigh, who lived and breathed this investigation for many years."
She has now retired from the force, having been awarded a Chief Constable's Commendation for her tenacity.
A second man was charged in relation to these offences, but was found not guilty of fraud by false representation by the jury.