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 20 July 2008 08:20 BST

Jersey police prepare for murder inquiry

Wednesday, 21 May 2008 19:53
Jersey police say bone fragments and teeth found in cellar of former childrens home "could suggest homicide"
Police in Jersey say they could launch a murder inquiry over milk teeth and bone fragments found at a former children's home.

The officer leading the investigation into allegations of historic abuse at Haut de la Garenne said the grim finds "could suggest homicide".

Seven teeth, all of which belong to children, and 30 bone fragments have been found in the cellars under the Jersey home since February.

Following tests conducted on the mainland, five out of the seven teeth have been determined to have not come out naturally, although there are no signs of trauma on all but one of the teeth.

The bone fragments have proven more problematic to UK experts, Deputy Chief Constable Lenny Harper said, with some illustrating signs of being part of unexplained deaths.

But he said a murder investigation could not be launched until "conflicting" opinions from forensic scientists were cleared up.

"All bone fragments will be going to the UK," he told journalists outside Haut de la Garenne.

"[Then we can provide] a bone by bone account of what exactly has been found in these cellars. That will take a few weeks."

Mr Harper said that many of the bones appeared to have been burned, which adds to the theory that a fireplace once existed in the area of the cellar the fragments were found in.

He explained that a murder investigation would prove problematic if the bones were shown to date to the 1940s.

But he added: "In that cellar, and we haven't even [searched] half of the area in question, have lain the partial remains of at least one or two dead children."

Jersey police launched their historic abuse inquiry when bone fragments believed to be part of a child's skull were found in February.

The investigation led to the arrest of former warden Gordon Wateridge, who has been charged with indecent assault upon teenage girls in the 1960s and 1970s.

He is yet to enter a plea despite appearing before magistrates earlier this month.End of story


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