Ann Widdecombe’s homicide suspect ‘drove almost 300 miles to her house with picket stick’
A man was arrested on suspicion of murder after armed police swooped on a mid-terrace house in Rotherham — 270 miles away from the former Cabinet Minister’s Devon home
Ann Widdecombe in 2014(Image: Christopher Jones/Shutterstock)
Armed police detained a 28-year -old man on suspicion of Ann Widdecombe’s murder after raiding a mid-terrace property some 270 miles from the former Cabinet Minister’s residence. The suspect, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was escorted to a police van by officers in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, shortly after 9pm on Saturday evening (July 11).
Police were today scrutinising CCTV which appeared to capture the suspect placing a wooden stick in the rear of a “filthy” and “moss-covered” red Vauxhall Corsa on the day she was killed.
Forensics teams were also spotted removing items from walls inside the house and bringing a pair of large bolt-cutters into the property yesterday, while detectives held the man in custody at an undisclosed facility.
Describing the moment he was apprehended, a local resident said the suspect appeared “calm” while being escorted away dressed entirely in black. They said: “He had one officer on either side holding an arm each and then they put him in the back of the marked van.”
Locals said around a dozen armed officers surrounded the house before knocking “very loudly” on the front door shortly before England’s World Cup quarter-final against Norway kicked off. The suspect answered before being swiftly detained by officers, reports the Mirror.
Courtney Foster, 25, who lives adjacent with his partner Rayed Astle, 26, said: “We were in the kitchen and just saw the officers running up. There were about 12 officers and quite a few cars.
“Some were armed. They banged on the door very loudly. They didn’t smash the door down because he opened it. They asked him his name, he confirmed it and they took him away.”
Locals depicted the long-haired suspect as a “loner” who had become more withdrawn since his father’s passing in December of the previous year.
Mr Foster commented: “He was someone you’d have a conversation with, but that changed after his dad died. He became very quiet. He kept himself to himself and wouldn’t really speak to anyone. He was always in the house.
“I don’t think he worked.” Another resident, who wished to remain anonymous, added: “I was about to watch the football and I could hear a helicopter overhead and my wife shouting ‘look what is happening at the front of house’.
“I saw many undercover police outside. I knew they were not neighbours coming to visit! Then on the back garden I saw two police officers with big guns on the man’s neighbours garden.”
The former Tory minister, aged 78, was bludgeoned to death in the £600,000 bungalow, just half an hour before she was due to appear via video link from her home, on Channel 5’s Matt Allwright show. She had last messaged a producer at 12.19pm, but failed to respond to a text at 12.48pm.
Her body went undetected for nearly 24 hours before eventually being discovered in the kitchen of her residence, in Haytor, Devon, at 11.40am on Thursday. At a press conference held at Devon and Cornwall Police’s headquarters in Exeter yesterday morning, Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman, who is overseeing the operation, confirmed there is currently no indication the alleged killing was politically driven or connected to terrorism.
He also disclosed the suspect is a white British man and confirmed investigators are not looking for anyone else. He explained how officers had received over 120 pieces of information from the public to help with their enquiries.
ACC Longman yesterday said detectives “remain open-minded about the motive”, but “are aware of online and public speculation”. He said: “Again I urge people not to share or engage with that speculation.
“It is unhelpful, it doesn’t aid our investigation and particularly it is distressing to the family and friends of Ms Widdecombe. We understand that there is a huge appetite for information, but progressing and protecting the integrity of our investigation is paramount now.”
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