Detectives said the suspect was a white, British male and was being held in police custody after being arrested in South Yorkshire, hundreds of miles away from the crime scene
Ann Widdecombe at her home in Devon(Image: Christopher Jones/Shutterstock)
A 28-year-old man has been arrested in South Yorkshire on suspicion of the murder Ann Widdecombe, police have said. Detectives said the suspect was a white, British male and was being held in police custody
A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police said: “We can confirm that a 28-year-old man was arrested at an address in the South Yorkshire area this evening (July 11) on suspicion of the murder of Ann Widdecombe.
“The suspect, who is a white British national, is now in police custody. Miss Widdecombe’s family have been informed of this development.
“We were supported by Counter Terrorism Policing North East and South Yorkshire Police who carried out the arrest on behalf of Devon & Cornwall Police.
“At this time, there is still no information to suggest that this is a terrorism related incident and as a force we retain primacy of the investigation.”
The force added that no further information will be issued on Saturday evening. A spokesman said the force will look to provide further updates Sunday.
The ex-Tory minister was found dead at her house in Haytor on Dartmoor at 11.40am on Thursday after sustaining serious injuries. Devon and Cornwall Police previously said it is believed Miss Widdecombe was attacked on Wednesday at around 12.30pm.
The force also urged people not to speculate on social media about the murder after Nigel Farage made the astonishing claim he thought it was “premeditated”.
Another man, 26, who was arrested at an address in Newton Abbot on suspicion of the murder of Miss Widdecombe on Friday, was released from custody on Saturday.
Earlier on Saturday, detectives investigating the murder said they have made the decision to not release the descriptions of any suspects or CCTV footage.
ACC Matt Longman said: “The decision not to disclose further details at this time is made on an operational basis. “We will release information to the public when it is appropriate and necessary, in order to support the investigation.”
Anne was found bludgeoned to death in her remote bungalow on Thursday morning. The alarm had first been raised when she could not be reached for a tv appearance on Wednesday, 24 hours before her body was found.
Heartbreaking messages released by ITV show she suddenly stopped replying just minutes before police suspect she was bludgeoned to death in her own home.
The messages were regular between 12.14pm and 12.19pm on Wednesday and sent the last one about the link to the appearance at 12.19pm reading from her as: “Received! Panic over!!”.
A WhatsApp read receipt shows Widdecombe read a response sent at 12.19pm but then did not read any of the subsequent messages from the producer, with the first follow-up sent at 12.48pm.
Detectives previously said the case is “not being treated as terrorism” and there is “no information” at this time to suggest it was a “politically motivated crime”.
