§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the progress of the police inquiry into the murder of Jill Dando. [88405]
§ Kate HoeyThe investigation of crime within the Metropolitan Police District is an operational matter for the Commissioner.
The Commissioner tells me that the murder of Jill has triggered an enormous public response: the police have received over 6,000calls, letters and fax messages. The inquiry has raised over 4,000 individual investigative actions; nearly 700 statements have been taken; and there has been a mass trawl of Closed Circuit Television records from private industry, local authorities and the Highways Agency to help track events in Jill Dando's last hours. Following the first phase of gathering, filtering and interpreting the initial information the investigation is now focusing upon developing, examining and testing hypotheses based upon what is now known. The investigation is itself subject to a progress review, in line with new general policy; the Commissioner informs me that the investigating team is following a number of lines of inquiry.