“I do find it very ODD…” - Mike Graham | Ann Widdecombe Murder Investigation

It's been a pretty awful weekend, hasn't it?As we took in the news on Friday on my show that Anne Williekem had been found dead.Little did I know at the time that it was gonna turn out that she'd been murdered.And it really has been an incredibly sad time, I think, for many of us.For those of us who knew her, but also for those of you who just knew her for her incredible wit, her incredible sense of fun, the things that she'd done in her career, the selflessness, the sacrifices.This is the first chance I've really had to talk to you about her, about Ann Widdicombe, since that terrible, terrible announcement on Friday afternoon that she had indeed been murdered.

And the police have given a press conference today, that's the Devon & Cornwall Police, Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman is the person who gave it.They've arrested a second man, because of course what you'll know is they first arrested a 26 -year -old local man from Newton Abbot down there in Devon, who has now been released and will play no further part in the investigation.So they basically arrested somebody who had nothing to do with it.They've now arrested somebody up in Rotherham in South Yorkshire.They say, the police, that they're not looking for anybody else.As of this moment, as I'm speaking to you, there's been no charges brought, so I'm not under any absolute legal requirement not to speak about the case.

They have said, as they always do, the police, that they don't like people to speculate.But there's a difference between speculation and asking questions, right?Because there are lots of questions.Because it would appear that when poor Anne was first discovered on Thursday, which looks like the day after she was attacked.It wasn't immediately clear that she had been murdered.Obviously, that's quite a puzzling one, I think, for most of us.

people have told me that the injuries sustained were pretty serious, pretty awful.I don't even like to think about that because it's too ghastly to contemplate.Anybody wanting to do such a thing to such a very beautiful individual human being and also just a very diminutive woman, a 78 year old woman.I can't imagine the thought process of somebody wanting to do that to her, to do her harm.But of course the police say they don't yet know what the motivation was.They said it's not terror related and yet they used the anti -terror police to arrest this individual up in South Yorkshire and they also used the South Yorkshire police.

They say that they don't believe the attack to be politically motivated.But they also say they're keeping an open mind.So does that mean they haven't yet discovered whether it's politically motivated?Or whether they can say absolutely for sure whether it's politically motivated?Now again, this is not me speculating.This is me simply asking responsible journalistic questions.

I don't know whether journalists were allowed to ask any questions, but certainly one question you might ask would be, is the person who's been arrested known to the police?Has he previously been known to the police?And do we know, for example, if he lives in Rotherham?He was arrested at an address in Rotherham.

It's not clear whether he was also known to Anne Whittacombe.That's not clear.Now, look, I perfectly understand the reason why the police like to do things in a particular way.But I do find it very odd, for example, that they took a decision before they arrested this man to not release any CCTV footage that they had of him.We understand that Anne Willacombe had a ring doorbell, which obviously would record anybody who came in.Again, we don't know.

An awful lot of questions remain unanswered.And it may well be that all of those questions will be answered in the fullness of time.But don't listen to a lot of these people on social media who say, oh, you shouldn't be talking about it.You might prejudice the trial.Well, it's not possible to do that at this stage of the events.So in fact, the man has been arrested, but he has not been charged at this point.

When the charge is made, that changes everything, if it's made.And given the fact that they arrested one man, who apparently seemingly had nothing to do with it, and who they now say will not take part of any further in the investigation, you have to wonder.And you do have to wonder as well about Devon and Cornwall's record as a police force.They've got very bad statistics on the prosecution and success of prosecution of violent crime in that particular county.And I think we are all entitled to be slightly suspicious, given the nature of some of the policing that's been going on in recent times.People have been very critical of Nigel Farage, for example, when he said that he would like to know what motivation there possibly could be.

People like Dan Hodges jumped all over it, saying, why is a senior politician asking about motivation?Why is he even trying to make out that there is a motive?Wouldn't you believe that Keir Starmer did exactly that, as the Prime Minister, a far more substantial political figure than Nigel Farage, who's the leader of reform and an MP.Because when that guy went on the rampage up in Edinburgh, you might remember, stabbing people, Keir Starmer said it was pretty clear that the motive was driven by anti -Muslim hatred.He was perfectly happy to say that.And funnily enough, Dan Hodges didn't have anything to say about it.

So there's a bloody double standard going on, as usual, right?And I thinkI'm not being remiss in pointing some of these things out.And I really don't think that the police have the carte blanche to shut everybody down, particularly when they're giving out so little information.They say they're keeping an open mind.Okay.

Well, if they're keeping an open mind, how can they then say that they don't believe it to be politically motivated?Because they don't know that, do they?And what does politically motivated even mean?Does it mean somebody votes in a particular way and dislikes other people who are not from that particular party that they vote for?Does it mean that it could be a cultural issue, such as some kind of trans activist?Does it mean that politically motivated is only to do with people being involved in party politics?

I mean, it's just not very clear, is it?And to be honest, there are people in parliament, not least the reform MPs, who would rather like to know if there was some kind of political motivation, because they would want, obviously, some better protection.The Mail on Sunday today has got a story saying that they're getting extra protection.Zia Yusuf has posted to say, the way it's been written, it looks as though we're paying for it as the public, as the taxpayer.But no, it's Reform who themselves are actually stuffing up the money for the extra protection.Because if you're right now, if you're a Reform politician or even a councillor, you're going to be pretty worried about what happened to Anne Willingham.

Because until we know, or at least until the police give us an explanation for what they believe happened.Everyone's going to be on edge, aren't they?I don't think it's too much to ask.Forget the details as they emerge.Call in to the police.They're not looking for anybody else.

I'd say.They're verya prejudicial comment, because what they're effectively saying is the guy who did it.They don't need to find any other suspects.Now, I'm no lawyer, but I've done plenty of these criminal cases in the past.

And if you say that, you've already kind of set out your stall to say, we believe this guy is the guy who did it.And that's what they've said, but they don't know why.And they're keeping an open mind.Well, I'm also keeping an open mind, but unlike some people, I don't have great faith in the way that some of our police services work.So we shall see.Obviously I'll be back tomorrow morning at 7am with a show which will still be in memoriam, if you like, of a great woman, Anne Whittacombe.

I'm still pretty upset about what happened and I thank you all for your beautiful comments that you made over the course of the last few days and all of the attention that we've been able to bring to the death of Anne Whittacombe who was a very substantial woman, a very substantial politician and just a great individual.And she doesn't deserve to have died in the way that she did.And she doesn't deserve to have had all of the ghastly abuse that was held at her from those horrible, ghastly left -wing people, including Adam Bolton, who's now made a groveling apology, I'm pleased to say.So, we'll see you tomorrow.Anne will be wanting us to carry on as usual, because that's what she would have done.And normally speaking, she would have been on the show.

So we're gonna have our own little tribute to Anne Willingham tomorrow, between 7 and 10 a .m.on The Mike Graham Show.Don't miss it.