British man arrested after his mother is found dead in car that was about to board ferry in Calais

A MURDER investigation has been launched after an elderly British woman was found dead in a car that was about to board a ferry in France.
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The 86-year-old was discovered in the vehicle that her son, 53, was driving at a ferry port in Calais on Friday.

The pair are said to both be from the Isle of Wight but French prosecutors declined to name them, The Times reports.

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According to the paper the son has been admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Northern France.

Calais ferry terminal. Picture: Google MapsCalais ferry terminal. Picture: Google Maps
Calais ferry terminal. Picture: Google Maps

A post-mortem was carried out on the woman on Friday.

The Times reports that Pascal Marconville, prosecutor in Boulogne-sur-Mer near Calais, said that a murder probe had been sparked after bruises were discovered on the woman’s body.

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He added that the pair had three properties in France – a château in the Ardèche department in the south and two houses in Burgundy.

Mr Marconville said: ‘It was when they intended to get out of the car that the son realised she was dead.’

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According to the prosecutor the woman had died well before the pair had arrived in Calais.

He added: ‘During the journey, the son noticed that his mother was not responding but he thought she was asleep.'

Mr Marconville also told local paper Le Journal Du Centre: ‘She died because of her age and a cancerous pathology which could explain the marks found on the body, which are in fact bruises.

‘According to the son, it would be linked to recurring falls.’

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Local police said that nothing suspicious was found at any of the three properties belonging to the pair.

A spokeswoman from the Foreign Office said: ‘We are aware of the death of a British woman and the arrest of a British man in Calais. We are liaising with the French authorities.’