THE devastated children of murdered Pennie Davis last night made a desperate plea for help to find their mum’s killer as the man being held by police was released on bail.

The 22-year-old, who has not been named, has been in custody since Saturday and questioned by detectives leading the murder hunt.

Last night officers said he had been released on bail pending further inquiries into the killing.

Meanwhile, almost a week after the 47-year-old was found stabbed to death in the field where she tended her horses, her five children last night told of their agony as they urged people to do the right thing and come forward to police with information.

In a statement Sophie, Alex, Georga, Daniel and Josef, together with their mother’s husband Pete – who she had only married in May this year – said nobody deserved to die in the way Pennie did.

They said: “It has been a long, agonising week since our precious mum and wife was selfishly taken from us.

“We had no idea how many lives she had touched, as we have been overwhelmed by love and support. Despite this, the void in our hearts only continues to grow.”

Speaking of the police investigation, which has involved more than 200 officers and staff in Hampshire, they added: “The police have made progress, but there is still much more to be done.

“We only hope that no other family should ever have to go through the ordeal that we are currently facing.

“No other person deserves to ever have to go the way our poor mum and wife did. We will never begin to understand how scared and how alone she must have felt.

“This is why we are pleading for anybody with any information to come forward. Even if you think it won’t make a difference, it might just be the call we were waiting for.”

Daily Echo:

Specialist forensics officers have made fingertip searches of the field and a nearby stretch of the Beaulieu River while police have also increased patrols in the area to offer reassurance to residents.

Pennie was widely known by her former surname Lambert before she married Pete, her fifth husband, in May.

She was a former employee at the Daily Echo where she worked as a business development representative at the paper from 2010 to 2011.

Detectives confirmed that a 22-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murder was last night bailed until November 3 pending further inquiries.