UK and Jersey police assisting murder inquiry

Police investigating the suspected murder of a woman in Alderney are receiving assistance from officers in Jersey and the UK.

Hannah Benfield, 34, was found in the sea at the base of cliffs in the west of the island on Monday and a 44-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of her murder.

States of Jersey Police said it had deployed five specialist search officers to Alderney following a "standard mutual aid" request, while other officers are assisting from the south-west of the UK and Guernsey Customs and Immigration, said Guernsey Police.

Chief officer Damian Kitchen said the investigation had been a "complex" process requiring "meticulous work".

Kitchen said the inquiry was placing pressure on the force and he asked islanders to be patient as officers managed competing demands.

"Our officers and staff are committed to being there when needed and will always respond immediately where there is a threat to life, a risk of harm, or a crime in progress," he said.

Kitchen said assistance from other forces would continue "into the weekend and beyond".

He thanked the Alderney community for its "help, welcome and support" during what he described as an "incredibly unsettling time".

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