Ashes shame of Shropshire border pet crematorium owner

Allan McMaster was exposed when trading standards officers found several chest freezers piled with dead pets at Swanpit Pet Crematorium on the Shropshire border.

In one found at the property in Gnosall, between Newport and Stafford, was a dragon-bearded iguana, a chicken, four cats and seven dogs, Mr Khalid Mahmood, prosecuting, told Cannock Magistrates Court.

All had been passed in good faith to McMaster, 52, of Audmore Road in Gnosall, for cremation. Some owners had used the company since it was launched in 2005.

Council officers found plastic bin liners and old cement bags full of ashes during the search of the premises in November last year. Horse carcasses were also found in the yard, including that of a large shire horse.

Officers also found clinical waste from a vet's practice in Shifnal stored in the garage of his Gnosall home. Most of it had been there for at least five years.

McMaster pleaded guilty to five charges of fraud relating to knowingly returning the wrong ashes to clients and four charges of failing to comply with animal by-product regulations. The court heard he charged between £40 and £100 for a cremation, depending on the size of the animal, while one customer paid £300 to have her horse cremated. She later took him to the county court and a settlement of £1,000 was made.

Defending, Mr Paul Jenkins described McMaster as "a one-man band who struggled to cope".

As a measure of how the premises had improved, the temporary suspension of his licence was restored in January, the court heard. The premises continues to have monthly inspections.

McMaster was ordered to carry out 200 hours' unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay £6,435 in costs and compensation, including £500 to each of four known victims.

Customers who were cheated by a shamed pet crematorium owner criticised the sentence handed to him by a judge.

Elizabeth Clewes, 42, of Lawley Bank, Telford, whose 12-year-old boxer dog Ellie was also found at the premises, said after the case: "He should have been jailed and his premises closed down."

Also speaking after the case, Joanne Wakeley, 40, of Albert Street, Cannock, who was also one of McMaster's victims, said: "He didn't get what he deserved."

Her Staffordshire bull terrier Ebony had been found in one of the freezers at the crematorium. She said she felt "sickened" when told the ashes which she had placed on her living room mantelpiece were not those of her pet.

"Now I'm wondering about all the other animals I've had cremated with him over the years. It's heart-wrenching to think they are not the real ashes either."

District judge Jack McGarva told him: "It's horrible and far from what your customers would have expected you to have done."

The judge said his sentencing could not reflect the full upset McMaster had caused his victims.

"You cannot put a price on the distress they have suffered," said Mr McGarva. "This was about an abuse of trust, not what you were paid. Pets can be very dear to people; they form close relationships over a long period of time. Those owners trusted you to deal with their pets in a very distressing situation in a manner that would respect the dignity of their pets. You completely failed in this."