Reverend Richard Coles has said he broke the law during his time at St Mary the Virgin church in Finedon, Northamptonshire, by placing pets’ ashes into the coffins of their owners. According to reports, he carried out the practice while serving at the church between 2011 and 2022. The outlets describe Coles as acknowledging that the actions were unlawful and that they were done when undertakers were not aware or not looking, implying the procedure was not properly agreed or authorised as part of funeral arrangements. The reports present his comments as an admission of wrongdoing rather than a court finding, and they do not provide details of any formal charges or outcomes in the information provided. The accounts are consistent across the sources that Coles worked at the church during that period and that he placed animal remains with human remains in a way he now characterises as breaking the law. They also agree on the general nature of the confession: he says he did it and recognises it as a legal breach.