Community
The life of a crime scene cleaner: Ben Giles shares his harrowing experiences
SOME of the images that Ben Giles has confronted over the past three decades have been stomach-churning.
He’s seen the brutality of murders, corpses left to rot for weeks on end, young children who have been mauled to death by dogs, victims of fatal car crashes, and an ever-increasing number of tragic suicides.

As he tackled each new scene as founder and director of Ultima Cleaning, Ben’s sole focus was on ensuring that the job was executed professionally. But it was only when he began working on his recently published book The Life of a Crime Scene Cleaner, that the true extent of those harrowing experiences began to hit home.
“Arriving at a crime scene, my main drive was to get the job done properly, but this meant not really thinking about what had happened,” Ben told The Pembrokeshire Herald.
“It was only when I began working on the book and started going over some of the scenes I’d confronted that I began to realise what some of those families had gone through.
“Yes, some of the things I’ve seen have been horrific.”
One image that will never leave Ben is that of a middle-aged woman who had been bludgeoned to death by her husband at their home in Birmingham.
“It made me realise that people sometimes die in ways that we don’t think possible,” he said. “I’d recently got married, and I just couldn’t accept how anything like this could happen between a husband and his wife.”
The woman had survived for three days on the kitchen floor but sadly died as she was being taken to hospital by ambulance. The entire room in which she’d been murdered was covered by a fine mist of blood, and bloody handprints and fingerprints were all over the kitchen units. The drawers had blood inside them and their runners, while the washing machine had so much blood on it that it had seeped into the door and into the seal.

“In a few hours, we’d completely cleaned the room and were travelling back home to our own wives and families. But the emotion that we were all feeling as a team will never leave me.”
Dealing with the unimaginable
On another occasion, Ben and his team were asked to attend a property in Penrhiwllan, near Newcastle Emlyn, where a man had lain dead for eight weeks.
“The smell was horrendous,” recalls Ben. “His face and legs had been eaten by his dog, and the man had begun decomposing through the carpet. His body fat had gone into the concrete. There were swarms of bluebottles everywhere.
“This was one of the very first biohazard cleaning jobs I’d ever done, so obviously the expectations were considerable. And in those days, we didn’t have Google to refer to, so it was a question of using our own knowledge and initiative to ensure the job was done well.”
Building a business from scratch
In many ways, this strong sense of self-belief has been the undercurrent of Ben’s life journey.
He left school at the age of 16 with a handful of GCSEs and no inclination to pursue further education.
“I knew I wanted to carry on living here in west Wales but I also knew that the qualifications I had weren’t going to get me the job or the salary I wanted,” explains Ben.
And so he set up his own window cleaning business.
“I managed to make a success of it,” he explains. “By the time I was 17, I was earning more money than my schoolteachers, and when I was 18, I was able to buy my first house and car.”
That same year, Ben decided to diversify into different methods of cleaning, focusing on offices and schools. By the time he was 23, he had a workforce of 20 people.
His first job came courtesy of a client who worked with the Aberystwyth branch of Age Concern.
“She told me that a warden-assisted flat hadn’t been cleaned for ten years. The bath was full to the brim with human faeces, as was the toilet, and the place was crawling with flies. Both the flats on either side were empty because of the smell.
“We cleaned the property that same day for a fee of £2,000, and I knew that by deodorising it and doing everything possible to clean it, we’d created an opportunity for the other flats to be let out too.”
A business built on expertise
Under Ben’s directorship, Ultima has been split into three categories:
- Ultima Cleaning, specialising in crime scene and biohazard cleaning;
- Ultima Academy, which offers specialist biohazard training to organisations such as police and prison officers, British Aerospace, and immigration officers;
- Ultima’s Environmental Network, facilitated by some 400 operatives throughout the UK.
The company has also worked closely with leading pharmaceutical companies to develop pioneering cleaning materials for severe cleanup operations, while a mental health specialist is always on hand to support any staff members affected by their work.
Ultima remains the sole British company that can offer a two-hour call-out, operating from its centre in Newport, Gwent.
Selling Ultima Cleaning
In 2022, Ben made the difficult decision to sell Ultima Cleaning.
“When COVID hit, I was going to bed at 3am and waking up at 6, when there’d be 20 jobs already in, waiting to be sanitised. We were absolutely everywhere, and it nearly exhausted me and the team.
“So I suppose it was this that made me take stock of where I am today.
“Over the years, it’s become obvious that people love hearing about the work we do as loads of people love crime, and the most popular question I get asked has to be ‘What’s the worst thing you’ve ever had to clean up?’
“But people are also interested in my own personal journey.
“And this is why I decided to write the book. OK, so I’m a much better cleaner than I am a writer, but I’ve always kept a diary of my jobs, and this has helped me to select between 30 and 40 of the most interesting ones for the book.
“At the end of the day, I’m a normal guy from Cardigan who’s worked hard, who’s had a firm belief in everything I’ve done, and who’s succeeded.
“But the business has made me appreciate my life, my family, the wonderful people around me, and my home near Cardigan.
“Ultima has taught me a great deal about life, but perhaps the greatest thing is to forget the word ‘no’. If I’d said no to so many of those jobs over the years, there’s no way I’d be where I am today.”
The Life of a Crime Scene Cleaner is available from Amazon on Kindle (£7.99) and paperback (£15.99).
Community
Narbelles WI support Food Bank with festive donation
Group marks December meeting with charity collection and Christmas celebrations
NARBELLES WI rounded off the year with a festive December meeting featuring a bring-and-share buffet, party games and a Secret Santa gift exchange.
Members also used the occasion to support families in need across the county, collecting food items and presenting a £120 cheque to Ann Watling from Pembrokeshire Food Bank. The donation represents the proceeds of the group’s bucket collection during Narberth Civic Week 2024.
A spokesperson for the WI said the group was delighted to finish the year “with fun, friendship and a chance to give something back to the community.”
(Photo: Narbelles WI members presenting the cheque to Ann Watling, Pembrokeshire Food Bank.)
Community
Annual charity carol service raises funds for good causes
MID and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service held its annual Charity Carol Service on Wednesday (Dec 10) at Ebeneser Baptist Chapel in Crymych.
The event brought together members of the local community alongside Fire Service staff for an evening of carols, readings and festive refreshments, marking the Christmas season in a warm and inclusive atmosphere.
This year’s service supported two important charities — the Fire Fighters Charity and Cancer Research Wales — with all proceeds going directly towards their ongoing work.
A total of £597 was raised on the night, which will be shared equally between the two charities.
The Service thanked the congregation at Ebeneser Baptist Chapel for hosting the event, as well as everyone who gave their time, support and generosity to make the evening such a success.

Community
3 Amigos toy bike run under way across Pembrokeshire
Castle Inn fun runners back festive charity event
THE ANNUAL 3 Amigos Christmas toy bike run is under way this afternoon (Saturday), with hundreds of motorcyclists setting off from Pembroke to raise funds for children’s services.
Riders gathered at The Commons car park in Pembroke from around midday before departing shortly after 1:00pm. The festive convoy is travelling along its traditional route, taking in Pembroke Dock and continuing through parts of the county including Neyland, Milford Haven and Haverfordwest.












The event is organised by the 3 Amigos and Dollies Motorcycle Group and has become a much-anticipated Christmas tradition in west Wales, with toys and donations collected for children receiving care within the Hywel Dda University Health Board area.
Also supporting the event are fun runners from the Castle Inn in Pembroke, who have been fundraising in aid of the 3 Amigos. The group are pictured alongside participants from today’s run.
The 3 Amigos have been raising funds for children’s wards and health charities for more than twenty-five years, with their Easter and Christmas events continuing to make a positive difference to young patients and their families.
Organisers have thanked the public for their support and asked road users to be mindful of the large convoy as it passes through towns and villages this afternoon.
Photo caption:
Festive fundraising: Fun runners from the Castle Inn, Pembroke, pictured supporting the 3 Amigos Christmas toy bike run (Pic: Martin Cavaney/Herald)
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