Amanda Knox retrial verdict: Recap updates as Italian court rules on Meredith Kercher murder charge

1EmailFollow the latest updates as Knox and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito learn if they have been found guilty, for a second time, of murdering British student Meredith

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Baby Boy Death: Three Arrested Over Murder

Police detain two men and a woman after the seven-week-old child died from serious head injuries in a "tragic case". 10:25pm UK, Friday 31 January 2014

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Honeymoon murder suspect Shrien Dewani loses attempt to block extradition to South Africa

Dewani has been fighting removal from the UK to face proceedings over wife Anni's death until he has recovered from mental health problems Photo: PA By News agencies

10:30AM GMT 31 Jan 2014

Honeymoon murder suspect Shrien Dewani has lost a High Court bid to block his extradition to South Africa until he is fit to stand trial.

A panel of three judges, headed by Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas, ruled that it would not be ''unjust and oppressive'' to extradite him if an undertaking was given by the South African government relating to how long he would be kept in the country without trial.

The court heard earlier that the government indicated it was willing to give that undertaking.

Dewani, from Bristol, has been fighting removal from the UK to face proceedings over wife Anni's death until he has recovered from mental health problems, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Dewani, who is compulsorily detained in hospital under the Mental Health Act, is accused of ordering the killing of his new wife Anni, 28, who was shot as the couple travelled in a taxi on the outskirts of Cape Town in November 2010.

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His lawyers have stressed at various hearings that he will be willing to defend himself at trial once he is fit to do so, but they say he is unfit to plead under English law and his ''prognosis is not certain''.

The ruling followed a hearing at the High Court in 2013. Those proceedings took place after an earlier decision that there were outstanding legal issues which needed to be decided.

In July 2013 chief magistrate Howard Riddle ruled at Westminster Magistrates' Court that Dewani should be extradited and rejected his attempt to stay in the UK for further hospital treatment.

He said Dewani was not fit to plead or stand trial at present, but there was evidence that he would receive the care he needed in South Africa.

Judge Riddle originally gave the go-ahead to Dewani's extradition in 2011 but had to reconsider the position after the High Court later allowed an appeal.

The High Court proceedings centred on two legal issues - the first relating to Dewani's status as "an accused person", and the second concerning whether it would be "unjust and oppressive" to extradite him "regardless of the prognosis" of his mental condition.

The judges were asked to decide whether a person who is unfit to plead is "an accused" for the purpose of the Extradition Act 2003 "if he is being extradited in circumstances where he may remain unfit to plead".

They were also asked to rule on whether it was "unjust or oppressive to extradite a person who is agreed at the time of the determination to be unfit, whatever the prognosis".

So far three men have been convicted over Mrs Dewani's death.

South African Xolile Mngeni was convicted of premeditated murder for shooting her. Prosecutors claimed he was a hitman hired by Dewani to kill his wife, which Dewani has consistently denied.

Taxi driver Zola Tongo was jailed for 18 years after he admitted his part in the killing and another accomplice, Mziwamadoda Qwabe, also pleaded guilty to murder and was handed a 25-year prison sentence.

Dewani's family have said that he remains committed to returning to South Africa "when his health would permit a full trial and when appropriate protections are in place for his health and safety".

A lawyer for the South African government said it was "delighted" with the court's ruling and expected it would be able to give the undertaking, but needed 14 days "for final clarification".

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In Law and Order

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Terror Raids: Woman On Attempted Murder Charge

The woman was charged following a counter terror operation

Tweet Email A woman has been charged with attempted murder after a counter terror operation involving searches at three London addresses.

Kunta Patel, 36, from Stratford, east London, is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday to face the charge, which follows an investigation by the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command.

A Scotland Yard team searched two properties in Wyatt Park Road in Streatham Hill, south London, on Saturday, as well as a third property where Ms Patel was arrested.

She was charged on Wednesday night after police were granted a custody extension by magistrates.

Ms Patel and a 19-year-old man were arrested under the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, which was part of the then-Labour government's response to the September 11 attacks in New York.

Many of the act's measures do not specifically relate to terrorism.

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Boy, 16, held in murder probe as teenage girl found dead

By David Barrett, Home Affairs Correspondent

1:00PM GMT 25 Jan 2014

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A 16-year-old boy is being questioned by murder squad detectives after the body of a teenage girl was found in an upmarket commuter belt town.

The 17-year-old victim, who was discovered in a flat above a Sainsbury’s Local shop in Oxted, Surrey, was believed to have been stabbed.

Sources said the teenagers knew each other but their exact relationship remained unclear.

Paramedics attended the scene in Amy Road, Oxted, on Friday evening but the girl was pronounced dead at the scene, and police immediately launched the murder investigation.

The entrance to the flats, a three-storey 1930s mansion block, was blocked by a police cordon and forensics officers wearing white boiler suits were seen entering the property.

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A spokesman for Surrey Police said the 16-year-old was being held on suspicion of murder.

On social media websites it was reported the victim had been stabbed but police refused to be drawn on how the girl died.

The family of the teenager have been informed of her death and were being comforted by family and friends.

One neighbour, who refused to be named, said: “It’s a very unusual occurrence in a place like Oxted.

“It’s shocking and sad a young girl has lost her life.”

The police spokesman said: “A murder investigation has been launched by the Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team following the death of a 17-year-old girl in Oxted.

“Officers were called to an address on Amy Road at around 5.20pm on Friday after the body of a girl was discovered at the property.

“A 16-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of murder and is currently in police custody.

“We are unable to give details of cause of death until we have post-mortem examination results.”

A post mortem examination will be carried out by a Home Office pathologist in the next few days.

 CrimeNews »UK News »David Barrett »Law and Order »Mobile »

In Crime

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Murder probe as man falls to his death from eighth-floor balcony

5 Dec 2013 17:39A 39-year-old man has handed himself into cops at a police station close to the scene in Coventry - and is a suspect

Detectives launched a murder probe today after a man was apparently thrown to his death from an eighth-floor balcony in the Foleshill area of Coventry.

The victim, in his early 30s, was discovered by a horrified passer-by in the road next to the Paradise House tower block on Eden Street.

He was rushed to hospital by ambulance but pronounced dead in the early hours of this morning.

A 39-year-old man later handed himself into cops at a police station close to the scene.

West Midlands Police said detectives are questioning him on suspicion of murder.

The victim is not being named until next of kin have been informed and a post mortem carried out.

Superintendent Nick Walton, from Coventry Police, said:

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Lee Rigby trial: 'I went for jugular because it's more humane way to kill' - murder accused told police

5 Dec 2013 19:12The jury heard Michael Adebolajo say in interview: ''He may be my enemy but he is a man so I struck at the neck and attempted to remove his head to be sure. Why prolong it?''

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Murder Arrest After Death Plunge In Coventry

Police appeal for witnesses and detain a 39-year-old man after the victim is found lying on the ground by a passer-by. 4:30pm UK, Thursday 05 December 2013

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Princes William and Harry to learn 'truth' of Diana murder claims

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Lee Rigby murder trial: alleged killers 'talked of religion and Afghanistan'

Drummer Lee Rigby Photo: MoD By News agencies

11:41AM GMT 03 Dec 2013

A first aider who rushed to help the murdered soldier Lee Rigby heard one of his alleged killers talking about "religion and Afghanistan", a court has heard.

Vikki Cave feared Michael Adebolajo, 28, and Michael Adebowale, 22, were planning to attack police as she spoke to the two men just metres away from Fusilier Rigby's body.

Abebolajo and Adebowale both deny murdering the soldier, as well as counts of attempted murder of a police officer and conspiracy to murder.

In a statement read to the jury at the Old Bailey by prosecutor Richard Whittam QC, Ms Cave, who was driving down John Wilson Street in Woolwich, south east London, when she witnessed the scene, said: "I was next to the body, only a few metres from the male.

"I spoke to them - are you going to hurt us?

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"He said 'The women and children are safe, you need to keep back when the police and soldiers get here'.

"They then started shouting about religion and Afghanistan and the damage other soldiers have done."

When Ms Cave first arrived, she spoke to another woman on the ground next to Fusilier Rigby and said she was "around to help" as she was first aid-trained.

Ms Cave said: "She said 'There's nothing that can be done. He's gone'."

Ms Cave said one of the men claimed the attack was "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth".

Paramedic Daniel Middleton, who arrived at the scene on his own, said in a statement one of the men was holding two meat cleavers and appeared to be "sharpening" them.

Fusilier Rigby was allegedly murdered as he walked back to Woolwich Barracks in south east London on May 22.

Adebolajo and Adebowale are accused of running him over and hacking him to death with a meat cleaver and knives.

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Toddler Khaleel Hussain: Murder Appeal Launched

Detectives are trying to build up a picture of Khaleel Hussain's life after he died last month following a serious head injury. 10:52am UK, Monday 25 November 2013

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Wife of stabbed Cornish GP charged with murder

By Ben Riley-Smith, and agencies

10:34AM GMT 21 Nov 2013

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The wife of a Cornish GP found stabbed to death at the couple's £700,000 coastal home shortly after his 60th birthday has been charged with murder.

Marion Hughes, 58, will appear before magistrates on Thursday afternoon accused of killing Dr Geraint Hughes in what police have described as a "domestic incident".

Emergency services discovered the bloodied body of Dr Hughes after being called to the couple's detached bungalow in the picturesque village of Feock, near Truro, Cornwall, last Friday.

Mrs Hughes was quizzed by police while being treated in hospital with non-life threatening injuries following the incident, before being released into custody.

Dr Hughes, who qualified in 1977, was senior partner at the Clinton Road Surgery in Redruth.

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The surgery's website lists the father-of-two's interests as obstetrics and family planning and said he liked to go sailing in his spare time.

In a tribute released by police, Dr Hughes' family described him as a "devoted father". "We are devastated by the tragic loss of our devoted and caring father," the statement said.

"He was always there for us and we cannot believe he is gone. The last time we were all together was at the wedding just six weeks ago. We will always cherish the happiness we shared as a family that day."

It is understood that Dr Hughes had recently held a party for friends, family and neighbours to celebrate his 60th birthday.

One female neighbour of the couple said: "You don't expect something like this. They are such nice people.

"Two doctors, happily married. I saw them out a week ago in their sports car with the roof down."

Another said: "This is a tragic case. We shall miss them both. I am very sorry and all the people around here are feeling very low."

A Devon and Cornwall Police spokesman said: "Marion Hughes, aged 58 from Feock, near Truro has been charged with the murder of Dr Geraint Hughes and is due to appear at Truro Magistrates' Court this morning, Thursday 21 November, at 10am."

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Outrage after pensioner's teenage killer freed and allowed to live just miles away from notorious murder

19 Nov 2013 11:23She and a pal squirted shampoo in the gran's eyes, cut her, gagged her, crammed her in a bin and dumped her in a canal         

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Lee Rigby murder trial: Men due in court accused of killing soldier as he returned to barracks

18 Nov 2013 11:20Far-right protesters from the British National Party and  English Defence League are expected to gather outside the court building

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Murder inquiry launched after body found in well

By Patrick Sawer

6:02PM GMT 16 Nov 2013

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Police are investigating a murder after a body was found dumped at the bottom of a garden well.

Two gardeners made the grisly discovery while working in the grounds of a house in Warlingham, near Croydon, on Friday.

Seven men have been arrested on suspicion of murder.

The body was recovered with the help of police divers after a protracted operation.

It has been removed from the scene and a post mortem is to be held on Sunday at East Surrey Hospital.

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The body was recovered with the help of police divers after a protracted operation

Scotland Yard said the two workmen found the body as they were clearing the front garden of the large property in Audley Drive, which stands in an acre of grounds in the commuter town.

Detective Chief Inspector Cliff Lyons said: "It is a murder investigation. As far as I am concerned, when a body is found in a well it either fell in there or was placed in there, and the evidence is apparent that the body was placed in there."

He said it was not possible to be sure of the body's gender, but, judging by the size, it was most likely to be an adult, not a child. The person was white.

He added: "It's not been there for an extended period of time; it will be a matter of weeks at the most."

Police were not prepared to discuss who lived in the house, or a suggestion that the body was wrapped in a carpet.

Asked about claims by local residents that there had been trouble at the house in the past couple of years, and that police had been called on numerous occasions, DCI Lyons said: "The residents have expressed concern, there is intelligence to support that notion, yes."

Neighbours said the house where the body was found is owned by a Greek Cypriot family who run a garage nearby and use it to house casual workers from Eastern Europe.

Jean Summers, 81, said: "There are always different people coming and going from there. They work in a garage round the corner. But it sounds like some of them fell out and there's been some sort of trouble."

One retired policeman, who lives on the street, said the area was relatively crime free and the discovery of the body had come as a shock to residents.

He said: "It's a very quiet area, but I'm afraid the transient workers who live in that house have caused a few problems, throwing empty drink bottles in the street, arguing loudly, that sort of thing."

Those arrested were held on Saturday night, and are aged between 21 and 27.

Police have appealed for anyone who had concerns about a person who has gone missing, especially if they had connections to that area, to come forward.

Anyone with information is urged to call police on 020 8721 4961 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

 CrimeNews »UK News »Patrick Sawer »Law and Order »

In politics

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MoD statement: Afghan murder a 'truly shocking aberration'

Following the guilty verdict in the court martial of a serviceman charged with murder, Brigadier Bill Dunham, Deputy Commandant General of the Royal Marines, says the murder of an Afghan soldier by a marine "should not have happened and it should never happen again" 4:20PM GMT 08 Nov 2013

One of Britain's highest ranking Royal Marines has branded the cold-blooded execution of an injured Afghan insurgent as "truly shocking and appalling".

Brigadier Bill Dunham spoke out after a commando was convicted of murdering the seriously wounded prisoner in Helmand Province two years ago.

A court martial board found the serviceman, known only as Marine A, guilty of murder following a two-week trial at the military court centre in Bulford, Wiltshire.

Two others, known only as Marines B and C, were acquitted of the same charge, contrary to Section 42 of the Armed Forces Act 2006, by the seven-strong board.

Brigadier Dunham said: "It is a matter of profound regret in this isolated incident that one marine failed to apply his training and discharge his responsibilities.

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"What we have heard over the last two weeks is not consistent with the ethos, values and standards of the Royal Marines.

"It was a truly shocking and appalling aberration. It should not have happened and it should never happen again."

During the trial, the court martial heard the marines were on patrol in a "kinetic" area of Afghanistan on September 15 2011 when they discovered the insurgent lying seriously injured in a field.

Marine A directed his comrades to move the man, an Afghan national, into a wooded area before shooting him at close range in the centre of his chest.

As the man convulsed on the grount, Marine A told him: "There you are. Shuffle off this mortal coil, you c

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Two charged with murder of pizza delivery driver

Two people have been charged with the murder of pizza delivery driver Thavisha Lakindu Peiris just days before he was due to start a job as an IT consultant

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How wild rumour led a mob to murder of innocent man

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How wild rumour led a mob to murder an innocent man

By Jake Wallis Simons

7:10AM GMT 03 Nov 2013

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In a few short months, the area of Brislington has gone from a quiet, nondescript suburb of east Bristol to one of the most notorious neighbourhoods in the country.

It is here that on a sweltering summer night in July, a disabled Iranian man, Bijan Ebrahimi, 44, was attacked, set on fire, and left to burn to death in a front garden.

“I woke up at seven in the morning and saw them taking the body away,” said a woman living opposite the scene, who asked to remain anonymous.

“I could see his feet hanging off the end of the stretcher. I never thought something like this would happen on our doorstep. There was a burnt patch on the ground for days afterwards.”

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Days before his death, youths began vandalising the flowers (left) kept by Mr Ebrahimi, a keen gardener. (SWNS)

As the eye of the media turns on this community, hanging in the air is a palpable feeling of tension, recrimination and guilt.

Residents avoid eye contact when walking in the street, and hurry indoors when people pass. The few neighbours who agreed to talk to me did so secretively, and on condition of anonymity.

Whether they are walking their dogs, riding BMX bikes or taking children to school, the local people seem isolated, burdened and even ashamed.

And with good reason; this was a very communal crime. Mr Ebrahimi met his death at the hands of two of his neighbours, both of whom lived several doors down from him in a block of council maisonettes on Capgrave Crescent.

They wrongly suspected Mr Ebrahimi of being a paedophile. On the night of July 14, a court heard, they decided to “take the law into their own hands”. Mr Ebrahimi was beaten unconscious, dragged into the street, doused in white spirit and set on fire.

Lee James, left, killed Mr Ebrahimi, assisted by Stephen Norley, right (SWNS)

Lee James, 24, a father of three, pleaded guilty to murder at Bristol Crown Court. His friend Stephen Norley, also 24 and a father of two, admitted assisting an offender after helping James to drag Mr Ebrahimi’s body from his home and fetching the white spirit to set him alight.

The pair will be sentenced on November 28. But although the murder itself was their work alone, they are far from the only guilty parties.

A woman who lives across the road from the council housing said that she and her family were so disturbed by the killing that they are moving away from the area.

“There were lots of neighbours out there watching, and the man was screaming, but nobody did anything or said anything to the police,” she said. “People in that block stuck together and kept silent. They turned a blind eye. I don’t know how anybody can just have stood back and let it happen.”

That such an appalling crime could occur on the streets of Britain in 2013 is disturbing enough. But the fact that it was carried out with the tacit support of so many members of the local community is a shocking indictment of some sections of modern British society.

The site where Mr Ebrahimi’s body was found, about 100 yards from the 44-year-old Iranian’s home (SWNS)

Bristol city council and the police have attempted to portray the murder as a tragic one-off, pointing out that overall levels of crime in Bristol are falling. The statistics are indisputable. The Strategic Assessment 2012-13, which will be published shortly, shows that total crime numbers are at the lowest they have been for 12 years. Even the notorious Stapleton Road, which in 2011 was named as the most dangerous street in the country for crime, is relatively safe.

But there remain pockets of communities around the city that are close-knit, closed-minded and deeply hostile towards anybody who is “different”. To dismiss the murder as a mere anomaly is to ignore the details of the crime, which indicate that many people played a role.

According to a neighbour, who asked not to be named, Mr Ebrahimi, known locally as Ben, was a gentle eccentric devoted to his cat and who “kept himself to himself”.

He had lived in Britain for more than 10 years, and had relatives nearby. Disabled by a back problem and out of work, he spent much of his time cultivating an array of flowers outside his maisonette.

“We only saw him when he was watering his plants or calling his cat in,” the neighbour said.

For many years, Mr Ebrahimi had been the target of malicious gossip and bullying at the hands of his neighbours. “Rumours had been going round for a few years that he was a paedophile,” said a man who lived on the floor above the victim after inviting me into his sitting room, away from prying eyes.

“Whenever anybody new moved into the block, people told them to watch out for him. There was a story that he had locked a 14-year-old girl in his house and raped her. But there was never any evidence and it wasn’t true.”

Many neighbours did not take part in this abuse. But the fact remains that in all that time, nobody had the courage to intervene.

On July 11 local youths began vandalising Mr Ebrahimi’s flowers. He took photographs of them as evidence and called the police. When officers attended the scene, they were confronted by a group of about 20 neighbours who told them that Mr Ebrahimi was a paedophile and that he had been taking pictures of children.

Officers advised Mr Ebrahimi to go back into his house, but he was determined to stand his ground. He was finally arrested on suspicion of breaching the peace, and taken away while a mob chanted “paedo, paedo”.

That night, Mr Ebrahimi was released without further action. “We can categorically state he had not taken any indecent images and that nothing of concern had been found on his computer,” confirmed a spokesman for Avon and Somerset Police. When Mr Ebrahimi returned home, it was to more taunts and jeers from the neighbours. Two days later, he was dead.

According to an elderly lady who lives in a maisonette in the same block, and who asked to remain anonymous, the day of the murder had been blisteringly hot. “People were having barbecues and sitting out on the balconies,” she said. “It was a happy atmosphere. People were having water fights. But the youngsters had been drinking all day, and the name-calling got out of control. They got hot-headed. I could cope with them giving him a beating, but setting him on fire was sick.”

At 1.20am, three teenage boys who had been camping in a nearby garden heard screams and cries for help. They could see clouds of smoke, and could smell burning. Shortly afterwards they found Mr Ebrahimi’s body in a front garden in Whitmore Avenue, just over 100 yards from his home.

Given this background, it is impossible not to wonder about the evasive groups of people on Capgrave Crescent who refused to answer my questions.

Were they simply honest folk weary of media attention? Were they part of the mob, all of which have gone unpunished? Or were they the people who shouted “keep your chin up” as Norley was led to the cells?

If Mr Ebrahimi was profoundly failed by British society, his family believe that he was also failed by the authorities.

“The police should have taken especially seriously his calls for help in the days before he was murdered,” they said in a statement.

“We are gravely concerned that the actions of those men have been made possible by the failures of the police and others.” This sentiment was shared by some of the neighbours. Two days after the murder, an angry resident confronted police at the scene.

“He is dead because of you,” he shouted. “You released him into a hostile environment, and he came home to chants of 'paedo, paedo’. It’s a joke. The police should have protected him.” The Independent Police Complaints Commission has launched an investigation.

The three constables who originally went to Mr Ebrahimi’s maisonette have been suspended and served notices of potential gross misconduct charges; three other police officers involved in his detention have not been suspended but face the same charge. In addition, six civilian call handlers will be questioned to establish whether they treated Mr Ebrahimi’s cries for help with due seriousness.

Nick Gargan, the chief constable for Avon and Somerset, conceded that the police and local authorities “failed that poor man”. “The plain fact is that here was a guy who did nothing wrong,” he said.

“Admittedly he was a little different, but he was brutally murdered. We can’t escape the very clear fact that things could have been done, and should have been done, to ensure that this didn’t happen.

“Mr Ebrahimi was a distinctive and different character on the estate. He was Iranian, he had a disability, and his interests were different. I fear that his difference has cost him dear.”

Mr Gargan resisted the notion that this murder could indicate an underlying problem in the community. “Big cities will always have crime,” he said. “To draw generalised conclusions is dangerous.”

But generalised conclusions may be precisely what are needed if events of this sort are to be prevented in the future, in Bristol and elsewhere.

Both Mr Ebrahimi’s family and the police believe that in addition to his eccentricity, he was targeted because of his Iranian background. This racism, combined with paranoia of paedophilia, created a mood of toxic febrility. It must be acknowledged that most areas of Bristol are very tolerant; but it is equally important to recognise that some are quite the opposite.

Richard Hope-Hawkins is a Bristolian writer and campaigner whose partner is black. “I know a good upstanding black couple who are both in work and have two children,” he said. “They used to live in Knowle West, a few miles from where the Iranian man was killed. But they were hounded out twice because of racist abuse from local people.”

In 2009, a BBC Panorama programme, Hate on the Doorstep, sent two undercover Asian reporters to pose as husband and wife and live for two months on Bristol’s Southmead estate. They received almost daily physical and verbal abuse.

In one incident, one of the reporters, Amil Khan, was told not to walk on the pavement before being punched in the head by a man who said, “bye, bye Paki”.

Often — as in the case of Mr Ebrahimi — this racism is conflated with a fear of paedophilia, and becomes particularly toxic.

The Bristol division of the English Defence League, the far-Right street protest movement, has announced plans to hold a rally in the city in December.

Their intention is to protest two issues: the building of a mosque, and “paedophile grooming gangs in Bristol”. The underlying narrative is unmistakable, and reflects the attitudes that led to the killing of Mr Ebrahimi.

Moreover, this was not the first time that the people of east Bristol launched an attack on what they mistakenly thought was a paedophile.

In 1998, a mob of 500 rioters attacked a police station in Knowle West, three miles from Bridlington, where they wrongly thought the paedophile killer Sidney Cooke was being held. Forty-six police officers were injured.

This incident may have taken place 15 years ago, but the fact that it occurred so nearby must be significant.

Sue Mountstevens, the police and crime commissioner for Avon and Somerset Constabulary, has called for a public meeting following the conclusion of the IPCC investigation. “The tolerance and generosity of Bristolians is well known,” she said.

“But this is a blot on the landscape. We have to come together and work out how and why it happened. I’m going to invite the police, Bristol city council, and other organisations to show local people the facts. I’m not proud to be where I am at the moment.”

The police say they are determined to learn lessons from this tragedy. But if such murders are to be prevented in the future, these lessons must be based on an in-depth analysis of the community, and not be concerned merely with operational issues. Nobody stood up for Mr Ebrahimi in life; it is important to stand up for him now.

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Murder inquiry launched after two teenage girls hit by car

Olivia Lewry and Jasmine Allsop Photo: FACEBOOK By Rosa Silverman and agencies

5:15PM GMT 03 Nov 2013

A 20-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after two teenage girls were hit by a car and killed in the early hours of the morning.

The best friends, Jasmine Allsop, 14, and Olivia Lewry, 16, are believed to have known their alleged killer.

It is understood the pair had been to a party and were heading back home when the incident happened outside Jasmine's house in Ann's Hill Road in Gosport, Hants.

Jasmine died at the scene, while Olivia was taken to hospital with serious injuries and died there.

The man, who is from the Gosport area, was initially arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.

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Hampshire Constabulary later said it had launched a murder inquiry and was holding the man in custody.

Officers attended the scene, near the junction between Ann's Hill Road and Brougham Street, at about 4.15am, after receiving a call from a member of the public.

Olivia was treated at nearby Queen Alexandra Hospital before she was pronounced dead.

Neighbours laid flowers at the scene this afternoon and spoke of their shock, while Jasmine's older brother Reece was comforted by friends who had gathered there too.

Damien Bannon, 19, a painter and decorator, said: "I've known Jaz and Olivia for several years. They were the best of friends and always so cheerful and easy to get along with.

"They were knocked down outside Jaz's home. I spoke to her brother this morning and he is distraught and angry.

"He was very fond and protective of his little sister.

"I believe the girls had been to a party and were standing outside the house talking when the car hit them. The driver was a friend of theirs.

"My mum woke me to tell me the news. I still can't believe it. It's such a tragedy."

School friends described the girls as "bubbly, outgoing and extremely popular."

One, who did not wish to be named, said: "They loved being the centre of attention and were very sociable. They were always listening to popular chart music or dubstep."

Arron O'Sullivan, 28, a demolition worker, said: "This is such a tragic waste of young lives, especially so close to Christmas.

"Their families must be heartbroken. It really is not the sort of news you want to wake up to on a Sunday morning.

"I'm still shaking because of the shock."

Friends and family also paid tribute to the popular teenagers on social networking sites.

Chelsea-lee Evans wrote: "Doesn't feel real at all...I can't imagine how hard it is for all of your family and friends. I love you both and R.I.P my angels."

Tara Hebberd wrote: "2 beautiful girls have lost their lives. R.I.P Jas and Olivia sleep tight."

Detective Superintendent Dick Pearson said: "This is an extremely tragic incident which has resulted in the death of two young girls.

"I currently have a team of detectives and other officers, including expert road collision investigators, working on this case to fully investigate the circumstances surrounding the deaths of these two teenage girls.

"I would appeal to anyone who knows anything which could help this investigation to contact my team as soon as possible."

Witnesses who may have seen the collision or seen the vehicle, a green Honda Civic, before the incident, were asked to come forward.

Sergeant Andy Lynch said: "We are working to piece together exactly what happened and any information from members of the public could be very helpful to our investigation."

Motorists were advised to avoid the area while the Road Death Investigation Team examined the scene.

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