Mother takes son's ashes to court to prove he's dead

A distraught mother carried her teenage son’s ashes into a Cumbrian courtroom to prove he was dead.

Julie Strange took the dramatic action after the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency began sending letters to her dead son alleging he had failed to inform them about the sale of a mystery vehicle.

The 43-year-old rang the DVLA each time to explain that her son, Paul, had died in October 2006 at the age of 19 and never owned the vehicle in question – even sending them a copy of his death certificate.



A few months ago she was contacted by bailiffs wanting to seize the vehicle and a summons was then delivered to her home at Little Salkeld, near Penrith, asking Paul to appear before magistrates in Workington yesterday.

Julie made the trip instead accompanied by her sister, Anne Thompson, and Paul’s ashes which she carried into the courtroom in a wooden casket with his name engraved on a plaque on top of it.

The prosecutor withdrew the case against the late Mr Strange when his tearful mother produced the casket and presiding magistrate Jack Abernethy then asked her to accept the condolences of the bench and court staff. A spokesman for the DVLA said night that they did not comment on individual cases.