Two funeral directors have been convicted of preventing the decent burial of a body and fraud offences.

Richard Elkin, 49, and Hayley Bell, 42, could face jail time after a decomposing body was found in their mortuary room.

The pair were found guilty at Portsmouth Crown Court of intentionally causing public nuisance between June 27, 2022, and December 11, 2023, and preventing lawful burial of a body between November 3, 2023, and December 11, 2023.

They were also convicted of carrying on a business fraudulently between August 10, 2022, and December 11, 2023, while running Elkin and Bell Funerals in Gosport, Hampshire .

Elkin was also found guilty of forging a funeral directing certificate and using it as a false certificate on or before December 10, 2023.

He also previously pleaded g

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