Women held after ‘trying to smuggle body of dead relative onto plane’

Two women attempted to smuggle a dead relative out of Britain by covering his face with sunglasses, it was alleged today.

The pair were arrested after trying to push the dead 91-year-old man in a wheelchair onto a Berlin-bound flight.

The two women, aged 41 and 66, covered his face with sunglasses claiming the pensioner was asleep when quizzed by officials at Liverpool John Lennon Airport on Saturday.

The duo had managed to ferry the corpse in a taxi from their home in Oldham, Greater Manchester, to the terminal.

But the bizarre attempt to smuggle the body to Germany fell apart when airport staff began asking questions. The women were arrested on suspicion of failing to give notification of death.

A Greater Manchester Police spokesman said: "At 11am on Saturday police at Liverpool John Lennon Airport were alerted to the death of a 91-year-old man in the terminal building. Two women were arrested. They have been released on bail until 1 June."

The dead man, a German national, is said to have died on Good Friday.

A motive for the attempt could be to avoid £3,000 repatriation fees.

An airport source said: "He was propped up in a wheelchair, wearing sunglasses, and the two women insisted that he was just asleep."