Charges against Tetra Pak heir Hans Kristian Rausing and wife Eva have been dropped

Charges against Tetra Pak heir Hans Kristian Rausing and wife Eva have been dropped Hans Rausing, 45, an heir to the multi-billion pound Tetra Pak drinks carton empire, was embarrassingly drawn into the public eye in April after his wife Eva, 44, was caught trying to smuggle heroin and crack into a function at London's American embassy.When £10m home the couple share with their four children in exclusive Cadogan Place, Chelsea, was then searched, officers found more crack and heroin - and £2,000 worth of cocaine, enough to fuel a whole nightclub full of drug-users.
Typically, addicts caught with such huge quantities of drugs will face a prison sentence.But at Westminster magistrates court yesterday, it was revealed that all charges against the couple are being dropped after a 'protracted correspondence' between their lawyers and the Crown Prosecution Service.Instead, they are each to accept a 'conditional caution', which will probably involve the pair promising to attend drug misuse programmes. They will not even have criminal records, although the cautions will be recorded on police files and could affect later cases.
Neither of the shamed pair appeared in court, where their solicitor made an extraordinary suggestion that the press should be asked to leave to keep proceedings secret. In fact the hearing was held in public as is usual.
Shortly before the hearing, Mr Rausing's parents and siblings had issued a statement in which they said: 'The Rausing family are deeply saddened by Hans's and Eva's situation, and the events leading up to their court appearance today.
'We hope with all our hearts that Hans K and Eva can overcome their addiction and we continue to do what we can to help.'
Court documents revealed that Mr Rausing was charged with possessing 0.2oz (5.63g) of crack cocaine, 0.1oz (2.9g) of heroin and almost 1.8oz (52g) of cocaine at his home.Mrs Rausing faced charges of possessing Class A , But prosecutor Martha Godwin said the charges were being dropped, and police were issuing conditional cautions instead.District Judge Timothy Workman said the drugs charges would be formally discontinued at a hearing next month.The Rausings' solicitor Philip Smith told the court: 'On behalf of both my clients that is a course that is acceptable to them both.'There has been a protracted course of correspondence from my office to the Crown Prosecution Service to enable them to make that very sensible decision.'
Mr Rausing stands to inherit the £5.4 billion Tetra Pak drinks carton empire built up by his Swedish father, also named Hans - who also lives in Britain and has three children. The family are said to have the seventh largest fortune in Britain.
Tetra Pak was founded in Sweden in 1951 by Mr Rausing's grandfather, Ruben Rausing. Its first product was a paper carton used for storing and transporting milk.
The Rausings own numerous properties around the world, including a £50 million estate in Barbados and a 3,000-acre retreat in East Sussex.
Mr and Mrs Rausing have contributed huge sums to addiction tragedies, and Mr Rausing was long believed to have dabbled in drugs - but only after American-born Mrs Rausing's arrest at the US embassy did it become public that both were addicted to crack and heroin.
Both drugs are typically associated with poverty-stricken ghettoes and crime, rather than the salons of west London.
Mrs Rausing is the daughter of a wealthy Pepsi-Cola executive.
After being arrested she said: : 'I have made a serious mistake which I very much regret.'I have made a grave error and consider myself to have taken a wrong turn in the course of my life.