00:00We can confirm that a 26-year-old man was arrested at an address in Newton Abba this afternoon
00:05on suspicion of the murder of Anne Widdicombe.
00:09The suspect, who is a white British national, remains in police custody whilst inquiries continue.
00:16Officers were called to Miss Widdicombe's home at Haytor by the ambulance service around 11.40am on Thursday 9th July.
00:26Sadly, 78-year-old Miss Widdicombe was located deceased within the property.
00:31She has sustained serious injuries.
00:35Her next to the kid have been informed and are being supported by specially trained officers.
00:41Detectives from the Force Major Crime Investigation Team have launched a murder investigation
00:45and are conducting extensive inquiries into the circumstances surrounding Miss Widdicombe's death.
00:52While we work closely with our partners and have consulted counter-terrorism policing as part of our initial inquiries,
00:58the incident is not being treated as terrorism.
01:02A cordon remains in place at the property while specialist officers continue forensic examinations.
01:08There are road closures in place around the scene and the public will see significant police activity in the area
01:14while detectives and other officers continue house-to-house and CCTV inquiries.
01:20This is an extremely tragic incident.
01:23Our thoughts are very much with the family and friends of Miss Widdicombe in this very difficult time.
01:30Our murder inquiry is in its early stages but moving at a significant pace
01:34and we are deploying all the necessary resources to find out exactly what has happened.
01:39I would appeal to anyone who may have information about this incident, however insignificant it may seem,
01:45to come forward and speak with us.
01:48While we release further information when we are able to do so,
01:51in the meantime I would ask people not to speculate about what might have happened, particularly on social media.
01:58That's not only potentially harmful to our investigation,
02:01but also deeply distressing to the family and friends of Miss Widdicombe.
02:06We have set up a major incident public portal for information.
02:11Images or footage can be submitted to us there and this can be found easily on our website.
02:16Information can also be passed anonymously to the independent charity Crime Stoppers.
02:22Thank you very much. I will now take a few short questions.
02:26Was the abandon known to the victim?
02:30We remain open-minded throughout the investigation and we are making those enquiries.
02:34So it is too early for me to comment further on that at this time.
02:37Christine from Sky News.
02:38Is there any indication that the murder was politically motivated?
02:43No, at this time again, it is at the early stages of the investigation,
02:45so we remain open-minded at this time.
02:48I have got no information to believe that that is a politically motivated crime.
02:54Have you received any threats before this?
02:58Well, we work very closely within national protocols to one of those within MPs in the political environment.
03:03I don't think it would be wrong for me to comment about anything around an individual at this stage of
03:06the investigation.
03:08Paul Greaves, Devin Lime.
03:10Is there anything more you can tell us about the nature of the injuries Miss Widdicombe sustained?
03:15Well, again, I think for both sensitivity to the family and friends and also this stage of the inquiry,
03:20it would be wrong for me to comment on that any further right now.
03:22But when we have further details of any part of the investigation, we will, of course, do even out to
03:27you.
03:28Andrew Kane from Greater Spitz News.
03:30Can you tell me about the police presence in the area that is ongoing this evening, please?
03:35Yeah, so police presence will remain high for a number of reasons.
03:38Most of all, we are still evidence gathering within our investigation.
03:41So, like I said in the statement, CCTV, et cetera.
03:45But, of course, we also want people to feel safe at the moment.
03:47I don't know of any ongoing risk, but we know the presence of our officers.
03:52Just to make people know we're there, be available to give advice, et cetera, we'll be around.
03:57So you can expect an increased presence throughout the weekend.
04:00Was the 26-year-old man arrested locally or was he outside the force area?
04:06So the person we have in custody has been arrested within the force area.
04:11Was there any struggle when he was arrested?
04:14I'm not going to give any further details about our cooperation activities today.
04:18I'll take two more.
04:19Sorry, was he known to you at all?
04:22Again, inappropriate to comment, I think, on the individual facts of the case at this stage.
04:27Any signs that anything was stolen from the property?
04:30Was the property broken into?
04:31Were you seeing it as a burglary gone wrong?
04:33So all the things that we need to work on throughout the investigation.
04:37And the key thing, I think, for us is obviously all our efforts today are focused on this investigation
04:43to get the right outcome for Swiddicom's family, friends,
04:47but also to make our communities feel safe and confident that we have some of the best officers working on
04:52it.
04:53We were made open-minded to that question.
04:56Nothing further to say at this time.
04:58Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for your time.
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