Foster's-Loving Dad Buried In Coffin Resembling His Favourite Beer

During the funeral, a can of lemonade was also placed on top of the coffin, as a nod to the builder's favourite tipple, a Foster's top.

Perry Cardy's family paid £700 for the coffin after he was killed outside his local pub in April, aged 52.

Mr Cardy's sister, Mandy Hunter, said the funeral was as he 'would have wanted'.

She said: "I think he would have been blown away and I think he would have thought it was really funny. It was a fitting send-off for him. He loved a Foster's top, that was his favourite drink.

"It was my idea to have the Foster's can printed on the coffin, because it was Perry's favourite and he loved being around friends and family at the pub.

"He was a hard-working man who worked Monday to Friday, so he would go to the pub on a Friday and Saturday night."

She continued: "I spoke to the funeral directors and asked if we could have the coffin wrapped, like you can do with cars. He said it was possible and gave us a quote. While a traditional coffin would be around £400, we paid £700 to have the Foster's can printed on it.

"We didn't want it to be a sad funeral, we wanted it to be upbeat and happy, just like how Perry would have wanted.

"We had so many lovely comments at the funeral saying what a lovely idea it was, it will make people remember Perry's funeral with happy thoughts."

Harry Joyce, 27, of Barry Road, Southampton, was charged with murder and is due in court later this month. On Friday 19 April and Mr Cardy was rushed to hospital with a serious head injury. He died on the Sunday morning at Southampton General Hospital.

Mandy added that the funeral highlighted how well-liked her brother was.

She said: "Perry was quite a quiet person who kept himself to himself, so I don't think even we realised just how well liked he was by his friends and fellow workmates.

"We were overwhelmed with the amount of people who turned up."