British-Indian father-of-two charged with assisting murder-accused woman

A British-Indian tradesman has been charged with "assisting an offender" in a murder inquiry following the discovery of human remains in suitcases dumped near a quarry in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire.

Wolverhampton-based Mahesh Sorathiya, 38, who has a wife and two teenaged children, appeared at Cheltenham Magistrates' Court on Saturday morning via video link, along with Gareeca Conita Gordon, 27, of Birmingham, who was charged with the murder of the unidentified woman.

They have been refused bail, and the police said that the results of DNA tests to establish the identity of the victim are still awaited.

The remains of the unidentified woman had been discovered by the police in two suitcases near Coleford in the Forest of Dean on Tuesday night.

Police were alerted after a member of the public reported suspicions about a vehicle due to its erratic driving. The vehicle was located a short while later and two people were spoken to by officers, leading to the discovery of two suitcases.

As postmortem results were inconclusive, further examinations are ongoing to establish the cause of death, the police said.