‘Why did you do it?’: Grave digger asked to explain his actions by grieving family

Wayne Joselyn, 43, dug more than three feet into the resting place shared by Kell and Maud Goodwin at Barnsley's Carlton Cemetery in April last year.

The former Royal Marine has never explained why he targeted their grave, broken into Maud’s coffin and disturbed his remains, and he answered “no comment” to all of the questions he was asked by police.

In a statement, the family asked: “Why did you do it? Do you realise what you have done to us as a family?

“Knowing the answer to this may help finally bring us some closure.”

Joselyn was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment at Sheffield Crown Court on Friday, after he pleaded guilty to criminal damage and outraging public decency.

In court, Joselyn’s solicitor suggested that he may have been looking for money to fund a Class A drug addiction and he was “divorced from reality”.

In 1984, Maud was buried alongside her husband, who had died two years earlier, after they had been married for more than 60 years and lived together in Carlton.

“The memories we have of them are that they were really loving, they were just so sweet,” the family added.

“They were so lovely to us and always there for us. They were the rock of our family and raised some of us – and for those members of the family they made it a gorgeous world to grow up in.

“We really loved them.

“As a family we don't feel the sentence reflects the significance of the intrusion on Maud and Kell, the impact on us, nor the work put in by South Yorkshire Police, who have not just worked tirelessly on this case but also shown so much compassion.

“They have gone above and beyond their job description throughout.”

During their investigation, South Yorkshire Police had to bring in specialists to analyse the soil and piece every bone fragment back together, as Maud’s remains had been disturbed by the grave digger.

Officers also conducted a search and found Joselyn’s DNA on a snood which he had lost while throwing soil back into the grave.

When they tracked his mobile phone, they found he had been at the cemetery on the night of the incident and ordered a taxi to a friend’s house, using his real name.

Police said Joselyn asked his friend to burn the clothes and boots he had worn, but that friend then contacted officers to let them know what Joselyn had done and handed them “this crucial evidence”.

Detective Inspector Mark Cockayne, who was the deputy senior investigating officer on the case, said: “For the family to have to come to terms with what happened in that cemetery is a difficult process.

“I hope they still feel the whole investigation, from the first cordons being put up on May 2, to the reinterment of Maud’s body on May 13, was carried out in a manner that was respectful of their loved one.

“I’m just sorry we have only been able to determine the ‘who’ and the ‘when’. We may never fully know the ‘why’ of this case. And that’s a really sad point for me.

“Friday’s sentencing will hopefully have brought about some closure for the family, who can now begin to start moving forward and putting this behind them.”