A GANG of convicted animal rights activists - including a Manchester man - may get reduced sentences if they reveal where a grandmother's remains are.

John Ablewhite, 36, from Levenshulme, took part in a six-year terror campaign against the owners of a guinea pig farm which ended in the theft of pensioner Gladys Hammond's body.

Ablewhite and two others last week admitted conspiring to blackmail David Hall and Partners and others connected to Darley Oaks Farm in Newchurch, Staffordshire.

None of the three has been convicted of stealing Mrs Hammond's remains. The family was told they would only be returned if the guinea pig operation stopped. The farm reverted to traditional farming in January but there has been no sign of the pensioner's body.

A judge has warned Ablewhite and his accomplices that they face 12 years in jail when they are sentenced on May 10 and 11.

But it is understood that Staffordshire Police are prepared to give a favourable recommendation to the judge if they provide information to enable them to find Mrs Hammond's remains within a month.