Globex Corporation Newsletter

Pakistan Cricket Coach Bob Woolmer
1948 - 2007

A team of Scotland Yard officers will travel to Jamaica to review the investigation into the death of Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer, police said today.

Three detectives and a scenes of crime officer will arrive in the Caribbean country next week, following a formal request from the Jamaican authorities, said a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police.

Woolmer, 58, died shortly after he was discovered unconscious in his bathroom at the Pegasus Hotel, Kingston, on March 18. He is believed to have been strangled.

Today Scotland Yard confirmed it was sending the team to review the investigation, but said Jamaican police remained the primary investigating force.

A spokesman said: "We can confirm we have received a formal request from the Jamaican Authorities to send a small team of detectives to review the investigation into the death of Bob Woolmer in Jamaica.

"This is normal practice for a review to take place a short time after the commencement of an investigation.

"In the UK we actively encourage that investigations of this nature are reviewed periodically, and throughout the investigation.

"The Jamaican Constabulary Force remains the primary investigating force."

The team of four will be led by a detective superintendent from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command.

The confirmation of the move by the Met Police comes after Mark Shields, Jamaica's Deputy Police Commissioner and a former Scotland Yard detective, indicated he would ask for a team of British murder investigators to assist in the operation.

Woolmer was murdered hours after of his team was eliminated from the cricket World Cup due to a humiliating defeat to Ireland.

Pakistani players and team officials were questioned, fingerprinted and swabbed for DNA before being allowed to leave Jamaica.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Mr Shields said that the former England cricketer may have been strangled with a piece of fabric which would explain the lack of marks on his neck despite the post-mortem examination's conclusion that Woolmer died as a result of strangulation.

Newspaper reports yesterday suggested that a hotel towel may have been used.

Police are still waiting for the results of forensic tests that will tell them what time he was strangled and whether there was any substance in his system which might have incapacitated him prior to the attack.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said it will hold a public memorial service for Woolmer tomorrow.

The service will take place at noon local time in Lahore's Sacred Heart Cathedral - three days before a second public memorial service in Cape Town, South Africa, where Woolmer lived with his family.

PCB chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf has already said the cricket board, through the Pakistani foreign office, has requested Jamaican authorities to allow a senior PCB official to join the investigating team in Jamaica.

# posted by Blind Orange Julius @ 11:32 AM