This is the moment a 79-year-old woman was caught on camera vandalising a grave.
Clare Burke was filmed after a widower upset at the desecration of his wife’s final resting place hid a CCTV camera in a nearby tree.
Ron Wilks, 77, saw Burke throwing dead flowers and gravel on to the grave of his wife Jill and their one-day-old granddaughter Hayley Reynolds.
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Prosecutor Sharon Jomaa told Cheltenham magistrates that the hidden camera showed Burke emptying carrier bags full of dead flowers and gravel over the grave.
She would pull up live flowers and
‘plant’ dead ones in flower holders at the burial plot at Coney Hill
Cemetery in Gloucester, she said.
‘The matter was very distressing for all the family and for Mr Wilks’s daughter Debbie, the mother of the one-day-old baby,’ she told the court.
She said Burke had ‘no relationship with Jill Wilks or the baby and there is no reason for her to go anywhere near the grave’. The court heard that Mr Wilks, of Tuffley, Gloucester, had known Burke as a client through his work for a finance group.
He said he had put a camera in a conifer tree in February, expecting to see that children were responsible for the vandalism.
He was appalled to see it was Burke and was shocked that she could do such a ‘despicable’ thing, the court heard.
Mark Anderson, defending, said Burke apologised for her actions. ‘She fully accepts what she has done and that it was utterly wrong, she is very sorry,’ he said. ‘Her temper had just boiled over.
‘Any interference with a grave is a reprehensible act and it was intended to cause distress. There is a great deal of background in this case but none can justify what she did and she doesn’t suggest that it does.’
He added: ‘There is a history of antagonism and on this occasion it boiled over.’
Chairman of the bench Hilary Davidson said Burke’s actions caused the family ‘immense distress’, but added: ‘We have heard you apologise sincerely and say that you won’t do it again.
‘I cannot imagine what Mr Wilks has felt like – and his daughter.
‘It is hard to know how to punish you for this, considering the distress caused.’
Burke, of Oxmoor, Gloucestershire, admitted a charge of harassment. She was given a conditional discharge for 12 months and a two-year restraining order prohibiting her from contacting Mr Wilks or his fiancee or going near the grave.
She was also ordered to pay £100 costs.
After the trial, Mr Wilks said: ‘This has been going on for a long time. At first I thought it was children messing around but it was happening so often that I realised it was malicious.
‘It makes no sense to me why she did it. She has shown no remorse to us.’
Clare Burke was filmed after a widower upset at the desecration of his wife’s final resting place hid a CCTV camera in a nearby tree.
Ron Wilks, 77, saw Burke throwing dead flowers and gravel on to the grave of his wife Jill and their one-day-old granddaughter Hayley Reynolds.
Scroll down for video
Profane: This CCTV footage shows Burke desecrating the grave
As well as 'planting' dead flowers on the grave, Burke also emptied gravel onto it
Disrespect: Burke also emptied bags of dead flowers onto Mrs Wilks' grave
Satisfied: Burke is captured walking away from the vandalised grave by the spycam
VIDEO See the shocking footage for 79-year-old grave vandal
Burke attacked the grave because she had a grudge against Mr Wilks, a court was told. She resented him because he had become engaged to a woman who used to date her former partner.
Prosecutor Sharon Jomaa told Cheltenham magistrates that the hidden camera showed Burke emptying carrier bags full of dead flowers and gravel over the grave.
Claire Burke repeatedly desecrated the grave of Jill Wilks and her one-day-old granddaughter
‘The matter was very distressing for all the family and for Mr Wilks’s daughter Debbie, the mother of the one-day-old baby,’ she told the court.
She said Burke had ‘no relationship with Jill Wilks or the baby and there is no reason for her to go anywhere near the grave’. The court heard that Mr Wilks, of Tuffley, Gloucester, had known Burke as a client through his work for a finance group.
He said he had put a camera in a conifer tree in February, expecting to see that children were responsible for the vandalism.
He was appalled to see it was Burke and was shocked that she could do such a ‘despicable’ thing, the court heard.
Mark Anderson, defending, said Burke apologised for her actions. ‘She fully accepts what she has done and that it was utterly wrong, she is very sorry,’ he said. ‘Her temper had just boiled over.
‘Any interference with a grave is a reprehensible act and it was intended to cause distress. There is a great deal of background in this case but none can justify what she did and she doesn’t suggest that it does.’
Ron Wilkes, 78, with his daughter Debbie
Reynolds whose daughter Hayley shares the grave which was vandalised
with her grandmother Jill
The grave of Jill Wilks at Coney Hill cemetery, Gloucester was vandalised by pensioner Claire Burke
Clare Burke trashed the grave of Jill Wilks at
Coney Hill, Gloucestershire on multiple occasions by removing new
flowers and replacing them with dead ones
The family of the late Jill Wilks said Claire Burke from Abbeydale had shown no remorse for her actions
Chairman of the bench Hilary Davidson said Burke’s actions caused the family ‘immense distress’, but added: ‘We have heard you apologise sincerely and say that you won’t do it again.
‘I cannot imagine what Mr Wilks has felt like – and his daughter.
‘It is hard to know how to punish you for this, considering the distress caused.’
Burke, of Oxmoor, Gloucestershire, admitted a charge of harassment. She was given a conditional discharge for 12 months and a two-year restraining order prohibiting her from contacting Mr Wilks or his fiancee or going near the grave.
She was also ordered to pay £100 costs.
After the trial, Mr Wilks said: ‘This has been going on for a long time. At first I thought it was children messing around but it was happening so often that I realised it was malicious.
‘It makes no sense to me why she did it. She has shown no remorse to us.’