Hans Rausing avoids jail after prevention of wife's 'decent burial'

Hans Rausing, one of Britain’s richest men, avoided a jail sentence today after he admitted preventing the lawful and decent burial of his wife Eva’s body.

Rausing, who also admitted driving a vehicle while unfit through drugs, was given two suspended sentences for the offences after Judge Richard McGregor-Johnson told him his behaviour was “an illustration of the utterly destructive effects of drug misuse”.

Police discovered the body of mother-of-four Mrs Rausing in an advanced state of decomposition after they arrested her husband – heir to the Tetra Pak millions – on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs on July 9.

A post-mortem examination established that she died on May 7 and had drugs in her system, including cocaine, Isleworth Crown Court, in west London, heard.

Her decomposing body was found in a fly-filled room in their luxury London home hidden under a pile of clothing and bin bags which had been taped together.

The court heard that Rausing told police in a statement after his arrest: “I do not have a very coherent recollection of the events leading up to and since Eva’s death. Safe to assure you that I have never wished her or done her any harm.”