Mystery surrounds investigation of murder victim Shawn Williams (From Daily Echo)

Mystery surrounds investigation of murder victim Shawn Williams

6:20pm Tuesday 17th August 2010 in

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THEY have begged a community to shop those responsible, called at hundreds of homes and scoured CCTV.

But three weeks on since detectives announced that they were treating the death of a man whose body was found near a stream as murder, nobody has been arrested.

Hampshire police have not had any significant breakthrough in the hunt to find who killed Shawn Williams, having given him a savage beating on a Southampton estate.

Shawn’s badly decomposed body was found in woodland in Coxford, just a short walk from Southampton General Hospital, where he had been treated for his injuries from the attack before he released himself.

The assault, in Princes Court, Northam, had taken place 17 days earlier and 42- year-old Shawn had been picked up by an ambulance.

Detectives revealed that they had launched a murder enquiry on July 27 and almost a week later, senior police addressed a public meeting where they vowed to lock up the thugs who beat Shawn – known to his family as Simon – as he walked through the area from his home in Woolston.

They have always maintained that the answer lies within the local community and have urged people to divulge what they know.

His parents also called on the public to help find those responsible for the death of their son, who was described as being “a gentle giant”.

But despite all their pleas, and the delivery of hundreds of fliers printed in different languages appealing for help, there has been little development in the enquiry.

Hampshire police have remained silent about the case, unable to confirm if they have taken any significant calls from members of the public.

Meanwhile, residents say that they have heard nothing more from officers since 25 people turned out to the meeting at the Northam Tenants and Residents’ Association office on August 2.

Carl Collins, chairman of the organisation, said: “I have honestly heard nothing – they have not come back to us at all. The meeting was not very successful. Like I have said to them, if it wasn’t someone from here or if nobody saw anything then how can they tell the police?

“I honestly don’t know if the answer does lie here. I knew nothing about the attack until a couple of days after it happened and people I have spoken to have said they didn’t know.

“It happened just off the road. It’s not as if it was right in the centre of the estate. There’s only half a dozen flats there where people could have seen anything and between 7.30am and 8am on a Saturday there’s nobody around.”

A spokesman for Hampshire police said: “There's nothing more we can say at this stage apart from to continue to appeal for information and witnesses.

There have not been any arrests made.”