Egon Ronay would knock a star off for that!
Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 8:45 pm
A pub landlord hid the body of a dead customer for four days so he would not miss the busy weekend trade.
Jason Chidgey, 29, found the body of pub regular Mark Howells dead in the men’s toilets on a Friday night at his pub, the Boot Hotel in Aberdare, South Wales.
But fearing police would close down the pub for their investigation, meaning he would miss out on weekend business he could not afford to, he hid the body of the 48-year-old in a first-floor bedroom at the pub, Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard.
The father-of-two from Parc Glas, Aberdare, enlisted the help of pub cleaner Audra Rees to hide Mr Howell’s body and opened the pub as normal over the weekend.
He then arranged for the corpse to be found the following Tuesday.
Prosecutor Owen Williams said: ‘He did so to trade over the busy weekend period.
‘He didn't want the body to be found until after the weekend was over.
‘From Friday to Monday Chidgey carried out his business as if nothing untoward had occurred.
‘He deflected friends' concerns about Mr Howells not being seen by saying he had spoken with him recently and that he was okay.’
The court heard that Chidgey almost got away with the scheme until Mrs Rees went to police after Mr Howell’s funeral.
