Neighbours of a man arrested on suspicion of the murder of Ann Widdecombe say that they saw him putting “some kind of wooden stick” into the passenger side of a red car before driving off.
The man was arrested yesterday in South Yorkshire, nearly 300 miles from Ann’s Dartmoor home, where she was found with a serious head injury. He is believed to have driven nearly 300 miles to her Dartmoor home, The Telegraph revealed. The former MP was found dead at her bungalow in Haytor, Devon, on Thursday, July 8. However, police believe that she was killed nearly 24 hours before she was found. A 28-year-old man was arrested in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, on suspicion of her murder, with police currently not looking for anyone else in relation to her murder.
CCTV footage taken at around 7am on Wednesday appears to show a young man leaving an address linked to the suspect. Widdecombe’s Dartmoor home is approximately a four-hour drive from where the suspect was arrested.
“I don’t know what he did for a living,” the neighbour revealed. “I think once his dad died, he went a bit loopy.”
Other neighbours suspect he may have had learning difficulties.
Another neighbour, describing the arrest, said: “Loads of unmarked police cars and loads of people ran into the house. I feel quite sick, to tell you the truth.”
Asst Chief Constable Matt Longman said during a press conference on Sunday: “At this point, there is still no information to suggest that this is a terrorism-related incident, and at this point we are not looking at anyone else in connection with this murder.
“Detectives remain open-minded about the potential motive. At this stage there is nothing to suggest it was politically motivated.”
He then urged the public “not to share or engage with that speculation”. He said: “It’s unhelpful, it doesn’t aid our investigation and particularly it’s distressing to family and friends of Widdecombe.”