A bereaved mother stopped her ex-husband from attending their son 's funeral by lying and arranging it in secret , a court heard . Cathleen Hackney allegedly told two different funeral directors that there were no objections , including from her former spouse , to her son being cremated after his death . As a result no-one attended the early morning cremation of Paul Moreland in December 2010 after it happened without his father 's knowledge , jurors heard . Hackney , 56 , is said to have deliberately 'pressed ahead ' with her plans , despite knowing her ex , Paul Barber , would have objected . Cathleen Hackney , 56 , is on trial at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court , pictured , in relation to the cremation of her son . Deborah Gould , prosecuting , opened the case against Hackney for jurors on the first day of her trial at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court . 'This is an unusual and very sad case which involves the Cremations Act 1902 , ' she said . 'In a nutshell , the Crown 's case is that the defendant told two different funeral directors , at two different times , that there were no objections from anyone , including Mr Barber , to her son being cremated and also signed two forms to the same effect . 'The Crown says that the first time she did this she simply did n't know whether Mr Barber objected to the cremation or not , as she had n't bothered to ask . ' Ms Gould alleged that by the time Hackney signed a second form she knew Mr Barber objected to any funeral which would involve the disposal of their son 's body , unless he knew the details of where and when it was to take place . But , the court heard , the defendant went ahead with the cremation despite Mr Barber 's disapproval being made clear to her by his solicitors . Hackney , 56 , denies one offence of making a false representation to procure the burning of human remains , and two counts of signing false certificates ahead of her son 's funeral . Jurors were told that Mr Moreland was just 32-years-old when he died in hospital on November 11 , 2010 , from a long-standing health condition . His parents went through an 'acrimonious ' divorce in 1983 , but subsequent contact relating to their son was described in court as being marred by dispute and conflict . Hackney , who registered her son 's death , is alleged to have instructed an undertaker on November 12 , that Mr Barber was to have no involvement with any of the funeral arrangements . By November 15 , the defendant is said to have been adamant that she did not want Mr Barber to attend the funeral , which was originally set for November 24 . At one point amid mediation involving lawyers , Hackney , the Crown claims , met an undertaker and signed a form stating that no near relatives were unaware of the proposed cremation . But an undertaker then became 'troubled ' and told Hackney he could not continue with the arrangements , leading her to dispense with his services . It is alleged she then went to another funeral firm and signed the second form on December 15 , booking a cremation for her son 's remains on December 20 . During her opening speech , Miss Gould said of Mr Moreland 's cremation : 'He was 'slotted in ' early in the morning when people with no relatives are burnt . 'Mr Barber was not present at his son 's funeral or cremation despite every effort to do so . ' Mr Barber told the court he found out the cremation had taken place in a phone message left for him by a solicitor . Cathleen Hackney is alleged to have told Harry Dawson Funeral Directors in Normacot , pictured , that there were no objections to the cremation . Giving evidence from the witness box , he told jurors he learned of the cremation at 1pm on December 20 . Mr Barber was then advised by a lawyer that he could seek a court order to stop his son 's ashes being disposed of in his absence . 'He ( the solicitor ) applied for it but did n't get it through quickly enough , ' Mr Barber told the court . Mr Barber contacted police shortly afterwards but Hackney was not interviewed until last December , when she asserted that he knew she intended to cremate her son and had not objected . Funeral director Wayne Packman also gave evidence to the trial . He said he had suggested the possible solution of having two separate services on different days for Hackney and Mr Barber in Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent respectively . But Hackney of Stoke-on-Trent then emailed the Co-operative funeral service 's contact centre saying she did not want her ex-husband to attend the cremation or to have a separate service . The trial was adjourned until tomorrow . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article .
Cathleen was accused of lying to undertakers ahead of schedule . claimed to have claimed there were no objections to funeral taking place . Court heard her ex - partner was not told when and where the cremation was happening . # ##ckney only learned about his son 's funeral after it had taken place .