Sky News presenter Sean Fletcher halted the broadcast to bring viewers a breaking update into the investigation into former MP Ann Widdecombe's death. Police released footage as officers swarmed the suspect's home. The ex-Tory minister, 78, was found dead at her isolated bungalow in Haytor, Devon, on Thursday morning.
Investigation Shift to Counter Terrorism
The host cut to correspondent Dan Whitehead who gave an update after it was confirmed the case is now being led by Counter Terrorism police. "This is a significant moment in the investigation. We've gone past the 36-hour mark for the questioning of this 28-year-old man arrested in Rotherham on Saturday, and now perhaps understand some of the reasons behind that: the shift in focus, the shift of responsibility, the investigation going to counter-terrorism police," he explained.
Whitehead detailed the timeline: "Of course, this began on Wednesday when they suspect Ann Widdecombe was attacked in her house in Dartmoor, but it was on Saturday night the CCTV footage that we have of the moment police from South Yorkshire, assisted as well by the counter-terrorism unit in the northeast, arrived at the property in Rotherham to arrest that 28-year-old suspect."
Footage of Arrest Released
As the clip aired for viewers, he continued: "You'll see that officer carrying the ram for the door in case there are any problems getting in, and that is where that man was arrested originally on suspicion of murder at around 9pm on Saturday." After the arrest, forensic searches were conducted throughout Sunday, with police outside the property conducting inquiries and going door to door.
"That man was in custody... 9 pm on Saturday, and it was this morning that we heard the news that now he has been re-arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences," Whitehead added. "Counter-terrorism police southeast, interestingly, now leading this investigation and saying that the man in custody [was] re-arrested on suspicion of...instigation of acts of terrorism."
Key Questions Remain
Whitehead noted: "Of course, there is an active live investigation. The big question will be: What has changed? Has that decision to re-arrest him on suspicion of terrorism offences come from the questioning of that suspect over the last 36 hours? Has it come from something that was perhaps found inside that property? That will be a key focus for the detectives."
Meanwhile, a major crime scene remains at Ann Widdecombe's house, half an hour away from the police HQ in Exeter. Whitehead reported: "We were there on Friday night and have been there over the last couple of days...We saw officers initially, of course, carrying out forensic searches, tests, carrying a lot of equipment in and out of Ann Widdecombe's property, which is in a remote area, only surrounded by I would say a dozen or so other houses."
"So the situation this afternoon is, and it's important to remember that this 28-year-old man hasn't been charged at the moment, and so that investigation, that re-arrest, is a whole new set of questions and a whole new set of officers now potentially questioning that man on suspicion of terrorism offences," he concluded.
