Questions over Twickenham Murder

11.25.12am UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 31st Jul 2006

The murder on Friday 27th July in Foreman Court, Twickenham has been followed very closely by the arrest of a suspect. The local neighbourhood police officers were familiar with the suspect and the murder victim and were able to make a quick arrest on the basis of their local knowledge.

However, Vincent Cable MP has expressed concern about the incident since he had tried eighteen months ago to get the police and the social landlord, RHP, to take action on drug dealing. There was a police raid which found drug related equipment and evidence of criminal activity. But the problems continued with a recent spurt of burglaries and street begging by addicts. Vincent Cable said: "As yet, the full details of the case are not yet known but residents believe the murder involved users and dealers of hard drugs about whom they have been complaining for a long time, and whose complaints I had taken up."

"It cannot be right that it takes a murder to stop persistent and well reported criminal behaviour. I shall be seeking an explanation as to why RHP took no action as the landlord, why there was no effective coordination between the various agencies, and why the police were unable to intervene sooner."