The body of a murder victim may have to be exhumed for the second time after it was discovered he was buried in the wrong grave, it was revealed today.

Danny Hastelow was laid to rest just days ago at a West Midlands church but it has emerged his body lies in a grave reserved by a woman wishing to be buried next to her husband.

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Reverend Nigel Carter, the vicar of St John’s in Walsall Wood, said the blunder happened after he forgot to mark up the correct grave for the funeral of Mr Hastelow.

Family members of Mr Hastelow, who was murdered in Spain nearly two years ago and exhumed earlier this year to be brought back to England for his funeral, today said they were devastated.

Claire Peters, Mr Hastelow’s sister, said: “I have sobbed and sobbed so much, I don’t have any tears left. I was so distraught I ran out of the house. He has already been exhumed once, this is so wrong. He has been buried now, he needs to be laid to rest and left alone. How dare the vicar forget about marking the grave?.”

Earlier this year permission was granted to the widow of Mr Michael Best, who was buried in January 2009 to allow them to be buried side by side.

Mr Carter said: “I have privately apologised to both families and I would like to repeat that apology publicly.”

By Hannah Webster and Marion Brennan