{"id":685875,"date":"2026-07-11T10:47:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T10:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/685875\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T10:47:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T10:47:13","slug":"suspect-in-ann-widdecombe-murder-inquiry-released-and-no-longer-part-of-investigation-live-updates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/685875\/","title":{"rendered":"Suspect in Ann Widdecombe murder inquiry released and no longer part of investigation &#8211; live updates"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Widdecombe murder inquiry &#8211; what we knowpublished at 07:18 BST<\/p>\n<p>07:18 BST<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-qs9kpv-Contributor etflsgg2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/e0aca2a1-234f-4ccc-b139-c5abf8116d57.jpg.webp.webp\" width=\"64\" height=\"64\" class=\"ssrcss-egie1y-Image edrdn950\"\/>Jacob Phillips<br \/>Live reporter<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">A 26-year-old man who was arrested on Friday on suspicion of murdering former Conservative minister Ann Widdecombe has been released and is no longer part of the investigation, police say.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The 78-year-old was found dead in her home in Haytor, Devon, on Thursday &#8211; here&#8217;s a reminder of what we know so far:<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Death announced: Widdecombe&#8217;s death was first announced on Friday morning by her management team, but there was no information about when, how or where she died, and no detail on any suspicious circumstances.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Serious injuries: Devon and Cornwall Police said the 78-year-old former Conservative minister turned Reform UK spokeswoman had been found dead with serious injuries at her home in Haytor, a village on Dartmoor at around 11:40 BST on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Murder investigation: But later on Friday afternoon, police issued a statement saying they had launched a murder investigation and released details of a suspect.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Arrest: The force&#8217;s Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman told a press conference on Friday that a 26-year-old white British man was arrested on Friday on suspicion of murder.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Not terror-related: Longman also explained there was &#8220;no information that this is a politically motivated crime&#8221; and also confirmed the incident was not being treated as terror-related.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;Absolutely devastated&#8221;: Widdecombe&#8217;s management team then released another statement, saying they were &#8220;absolutely devastated&#8221; by news of the police investigation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Suspect released: Devon and Cornwall Police said on Saturday morning that the suspect has since been released from custody and is no longer part of the investigation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Stay with us for the latest updates throughout the day &#8211; and you can read more in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/c3vyqkqkvr9o\" class=\"ssrcss-ztter6-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">our full story on what we know.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A satellite image of the Haytor area on Dartmoor in Devon. A marker highlights the location of Ann Widdecombe\u2019s house on a road south of Haytor village. An inset aerial photograph shows the property in detail, including a detached house, garden and outdoor swimming pool\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4ded9df4-a238-4f39-b442-fcb50daa2312.jpg.webp\"  width=\"1600\" height=\"1254\" class=\"ssrcss-egie1y-Image edrdn950\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Widdecombe murder inquiry &#8211; what we knowpublished at 07:18 BST 07:18 BST Jacob PhillipsLive reporter A 26-year-old man&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":685876,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-685875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=685875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685875\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/685876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=685875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=685875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=685875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}