Murder squad cops plea to find man (From Daily Echo)

Detectives praise Woolston community for response in Delia Hughes murder inquiry

7:00am Monday 10th September 2012 in News By Jenny Makin, Crime Reporter

Delia Hughes

Murder squad detectives say they have had a good response from residents after turning their attention on a Southampton community in their hunt for clues about the killing of pensioner Delia Hughes.

As reported in Saturday's Daily Echo, police spent the weekend focussing on a small corner of Woolston in their bid to trace a mystery man who could hold vital information about the 85-year-old's death.

It's just over three weeks since Delia was battered to death in her ground floor flat in Atlantic Close, Ocean Village . Her body was discovered by her daughter and son-in-law who had visited the address after failing to make contact with her.

After scouring hundreds of hours of CCTV, police have been able to track the movements of a hoodie-wearing man who they know visited the marina area on the morning Delia was killed.

However despite repeated appeals to identify him and a weekend spent carrying out house to house enquiries, detectives are no nearer confirming his identity.

In shops around Bridge Road in Woolston, where the man was captured on cameras on the day of the killing leaving the area around 8am and returning around 9.30am, posters appealing for help have been placed in windows.

Throughout the weekend, teams of officers called at dozens of homes in the area of Defender Road, Ailsa Lane and Peartree Road, in the hope that someone could shed light on who the man is and where he might be now.Detective Inspector Dave Dilly told the Daily Echo: “Officers have called at many homes as we continue to try and trace this man who we know was in the Ocean Village area at a critical time on Saturday August 18, and therefore could be a very important witness.

“We have had a good response from the residents in that area but we are still unable to locate him. I would appeal once again to anyone who thinks they may know who he is, or to the person themselves, to come forward so we can then move on with the investigation.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Operation Anglian team in Southampton on 101.