Three rearrested over grave body theft

Last updated at 11:32 17 March 2005


Detectives investigating the desecration of an 82-year-old woman's grave have rearrested three men on suspicion of stealing her body, police confirmed today.

The men were originally detained yesterday morning for questioning about alleged criminal damage.

But the force has today confirmed the men have been rearrested, without being released from custody, and were being questioned about the theft of Gladys Hammond's body.

The pensioner's remains were stolen from the

grounds of St Peter's Church in Yoxall, Staffordshire, under cover of darkness in October last year.

Her son-in-law co-owns a guinea pig breeding farm in nearby Newchurch which has been the target of a hate campaign run by animal rights activists in recent years.

The men, all aged in their 30s, were arrested as they travelled in a car in the area yesterday morning.

They were detained on suspicion of causing criminal damage locally and taken to Burton police station for questioning. The vehicle was seized for forensic examination.

Police said earlier today that officers had been

granted an extra 12 hours to hold the men, two from Wolverhampton and one from Birmingham, who could be detained until 6pm tonight.

A 32-year-old man and a woman, aged 30, arrested yesterday morning in Lysons Avenue, Gloucester, on suspicion of stealing Mrs Hammond's body, were released on police bail.

The pair were ordered to return to Stafford police station, where they were taken for questioning, on May 11.

Several items were removed from the house by

search teams who spent the morning examining the property, and a car parked in the road outside was also seized for forensic examination.

A further two men and a woman arrested in connection with the desecration last year remain on police bail.

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