Women in corpse smuggling riddle

TWO Oldham women accused of trying to smuggle a dead relative on to a plane insist they thought he was sleeping.

It is claimed the body of 91-year-old German national Kurt Willi Jarant, wearing sunglasses was pushed in on a wheelchair in an effort to fool staff at the check in desk at Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

His widow Gitta Jarant (66) and her daughter Anke Anusic (41) were arrested but deny allegations he had been dead for 24 hours.

Staff became suspicious and alerted the authorities as the women, from Coldhurst, attempted to check in Mr Jarant for a flight to Berlin.

It has been claimed they were trying to smuggle the body back to his homeland to avoid repatriation fees, which can be as high as £3,000.

The women were arrested after the bizarre incident was uncovered and questioned “on suspicion of failing to give notification of a death” before being released on bail until June 1.

They had booked a wheelchair in advance and say Mr Jarant, who was also travelling with three grandchildren, must have died as he was wheeled into the airport.

But airport worker Andrew Millea said that as he helped Mr Jarant into the wheelchair: “To my horror his face fell sideways against mine. It was ice cold. I knew straight away that the man was dead but they reassured me that he ‘always sleeps like that.’”

Ms Anusic, a part–time child minder and student, said her step-father, who suffered from Alzheimer’s, had been treated in hospital for pneumonia and they had waited until he was better before booking a ticket to travel.

She said: “He was released from hospital. He was fine. If he was not fine the hospital wouldn’t release him. He was alive. He was pale but he wasn’t dead.

“The accusations are wrong. So many people had seen him in the previous 24 hours. We had checked his temperature and checked his wellbeing. Willi had been eating and had no fever. He was warm and wasn’t in an emergency situation.

“When we were detained at the airport we thought it was normal procedure — we were only arrested after a nine hour wait. A police doctor said he had been dead for more than 24 hours.”

She said he had been wearing sunglasses because of an unsightly eye and her mother went into shock and began crying when she realised her husband was dead.

Mrs Jarant, who was married to her husband for nine years, said: “Someone called the medical team and they got a doctor. They put up a curtain so people couldn’t see. He was laid out on the floor. He would have been stiff if he had been dead for more than 24 hours.

“We were in love. He was a really good man. Everyone loved him and everyone was in shock about his death.”

Airport check-in staff are said to have been horrified by the incident, which happened at 11am on Saturday

A taxi driver from Oldham’s Broadway Cars was also left “upset and devastated” after being told by the women that the man was asleep as he drove them to the airport.

A Merseyside Police spokeswoman said: “We are still investigating the exact circumstances of the death.”