A Fife woman who buried her husband’s body in the garden of their Portuguese home has been spared jail.
Louise Khan, 47, formerly of Lochgelly, had been threatened with up to two years in prison after being accused of “corpse desecration”.
But following her conviction this week after a one-day trial, she was fined 790 euros, the equivalent of £705.
She was told she would go to prison for 65 days if she failed to pay.
Ms Khan was arrested in February last year after the body of her husband Alyn Pennycook was recovered at a farm at Linhares da Beira, where they had lived for three years.
The piano teacher claimed she was fulfilling her husband’s last wishes after he died of a brain tumour several months previously.
There was no suggestion his death was suspicious but it is believed Ms Khan failed to report the death.
A four-page indictment submitted by prosecutors before the trial said: “The accused managed to hide her husband’s body on their property without authorisation from any official body empowered to permit it.
“She acted freely, deliberately and consciously, knowing the criminal responsibility of her conduct.
“Mr Pennycook probably died on September 30, 2016.”
