THE body of an elderly woman stolen by animal rights extremists was found in woodland yesterday, 18 months after it was removed from her grave.

The precise location of Gladys Hammond’s remains was provided by one of the activists who faces a jail term when sentenced next week in connection with the offence.

Three men and a woman have admitted conspiring to blackmail a guinea-pig breeding farm run by Mrs Hammond’s son-in-law, who endured a six-year campaign of terror.

Jon Smith, John Ablewhite and Kerry Whitburn originally faced up to 12 years in jail, while Whitburn’s girlfriend, Josephine Mayo, was expected to receive a six-year sentence.

All had denied the offence until last month, two weeks before they were due to stand trial. One of them could now be given a shorter sentence for providing the information about Mrs Hammond’s remains.

The body was found in fir woods on Cannock Chase, Staffordshire, 13 miles from St Peter’s churchyard in Yoxall, where Mrs Hammond, 82, had been buried in 1997. It was removed for formal identification by a Home Office pathologist at Stafford mortuary. Mrs Hammond’s daughters expressed relief on hearing the news. Margaret Hall said: “We do hope for a positive identification of my mother and that we can return her to her rightful resting place.”

The Rev Jenny Lister, the Rector of Yoxall, described the discovery as “an answer to prayer”. She said: “I hope that when the body is identified it proves to be that of Mrs Hammond, so that her remains can be laid to rest once again. I pray that this will begin to bring healing to her family, who have suffered so much.”

Police received the information on Tuesday that led them to the location, near a German war cemetery. They found a rectangular depression near a footpath and, after digging, discovered human remains several feet underground. Dozens of officers, wearing white paper suits, resumed their search of a 50sq ft area early yesterday.

A blue tent was erected over the body, so that forensic analysis could take place, and all entrances to surrounding woodland were sealed off while a force helicopter hovered.

Dog walkers and coach parties of pensioners visiting the nearby cemetery looked on as the area swarmed with police and journalists. A private ambulance and two undertakers removed the body. It was placed in a coffin that was draped with a dark blue velvet cloth.

Detective Chief Inspector Nick Baker, who led the inquiry, said: “Mrs Hammond’s family are aware of the developments and are currently receiving the support and services of a police family liaison officer.

“We have been carrying out a sensitive, careful and methodical search before the removal of the remains.

“They will undergo DNA and other tests to try to establish identity. This may prove to be the development that we and Gladys Hammond’s family have been waiting for.”

The offenders were described by a judge last month as “determined and cold-blooded defenders of their perceived cause” for their campaign against Darley Oaks Farm in Newchurch, Staffordshire.

The Hall family and their employees, friends and neighbours were subjected to a smear campaign, hoax bombs, hate mail, malicious phone calls and graffiti. Staffordshire Police responded to more than 450 incidents relating to the farm in two years.

The Hall family said last August that from January this year they would stop breeding guinea-pigs, hoping that this would prompt activists to return their relative’s remains.

Whitburn, 36, of Birmingham, Smith, 39, of Wolverhampton, Ablewhite, 36, of Manchester, and Mayo, 38, of Birmingham, pleaded guilty to conspiring to blackmail David Hall and Partners and others connected to the farm between September 1999 and September last year.

Police were unable to prove who had physically disinterred Mrs Hammond’s body. They charged the four extremists with conspiracy, which covered the entire campaign, after realising that one-off prosecutions for more minor offences, such as harassment or criminal damage, were failing to stop attacks by activists.

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