Teacher faces trial after body of husband unearthed

A SCOTS piano teacher is to stand trial accused of burying the body of her husband in the back garden of their home in Portugal.

Louise Khan, 46, was arrested by Portuguese police after the remains of her partner Alyn Pennycook were found earlier this month on the remote farm where they lived.

Mr Pennycook, a 59-yearold Scot, is believed to have died after suffering from terminal cancer.

Officers believe he died in September or October but Ms Khan, originally from Lochgelly, Fife, failed to report his death to the authorities in Portugal or Britain.

She was arrested and held in custody “for the presumed practice of at least one crime of corpse desecration” following the discovery of the body on February 9.

She has since been released on the condition she reports to a local police station and is due to stand trial this month. She could face up to two years in prison if convicted.

Ms Khan, who had lived at the property in Linhares, near the city of Guarda, for more than three years, is being assisted by UK Government officials.

Neighbours of the couple raised the alarm with police after growing suspicious when Mr Pennycook was not spotted at the property for several months.

Police located the body by using ground-penetrating radar.

An autopsy on the body is said to have shown no signs of violence.

Neighbours say the couple lived quietly and did not mix with others in the expatriate community.

Mr Pennycook is said to have regularly travelled back to Scotland to receive treatment for his illness.