Hollyoaks actress in court

An actress has admitted leaving her mother's corpse unburied and claiming benefits in her name.

Hazel Maddock is accused of keeping the remains of 95-year-old Olive Maddock for up to six months in the house they shared in Wallasey, Merseyside.

The 61-year-old, who has played bit-parts in television soap operas such as Hollyoaks and Brookside, pleaded guilty to two charges.

She admitted unlawful prevention of burial when she appeared at Liverpool Crown Court.

She also pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining one payment of her dead mother's state pension of £176.92 and a single payment of pension credit of £34.44.

Olive Maddock's granddaughter, 35-year-old Jasmine Maddock, of East Finchley in Lindon, also admitted leaving a corpse unburied between January and August last year.

She shook and sobbed in the dock as the charge was read out.


At an earlier court hearing, it was revealed her grandmother's body was found only when a neighbour realised the pensioner had not been seen for some time.

Police discovered the corpse last August after officers gained entry to the house the three women shared in Saltburn Road.

They found the remains of the elderly lady slumped behind the door of her bedroom.

Forensic examination did not give an exact cause or date of death.

But it is thought she died of natural causes any time between two and six months earlier.

The judge granted bail to both Olive and Jasmine Maddock but warned them that it did not mean they would escape imprisonment.

Their cases were adjourned until July 1 for sentencing.
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