Legacy Matters

Ashes to Court

After handling repeated demands that her dead son appear before local magistrates, Ann Thompson just wanted them to stop.

It was almost a year later when the first letter from the DVLA dropped on the mat at the family home in Salkeld, near Penrith, claiming he had not logged details with them about a vehicle he apparently owned.

'The letter included the registration of the vehicle but there was no indication whether it was a car, a bike or anything else,' said Mrs Strange. 'But Paul did not own any vehicle when he died.

'I rang the DVLA to tell them that and that he was dead. I then wrote to them enclosing a copy of his death certificate. Another letter followed and I rang them. Then another letter came and I rang again. When another letter came I just ignored it.

Finally, feeling she had no alternative, the Grieving mother brought her son's ashes to court after the DVLA insisted on prosecuting him two years after he died

When the usher called for Paul Richard Strange, she stepped forward and said: 'He's here.'

The court fell silent as the 43-year-old housewife, her arms outstretched, asked: 'Do you want to see him?'