Friday, April 13, 2007

Date set for Bob Woolmer inquest

Bob Woolmer
It is thought Mr Woolmer was strangled
The inquest into the death of former Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer will take place on 23 April, the coroner's office in Kingston, Jamaica, has said.

Woolmer was found dead in his Kingston hotel on 18 March, the day after his side lost to Ireland in the World Cup.

Up to 20 people are expected to give evidence at the hearing in the Jamaica Conference Centre, reports say.

It is believed the ex-England batsman was strangled. His body remains in Jamaica pending the coroner's inquiry.

On Wednesday it emerged police probing Woolmer's murder sent CCTV images to the UK for further analysis.

Police help

The footage from the Kingston hotel was sent to Scotland Yard "for further consideration", Jamaica Police spokesman Karl Angell said without giving further details.

A team of four officers from Scotland Yard arrived in Jamaica last week to help with the inquiry, following a formal request from the Jamaican authorities.

Pakistan also sent as an observer senior police investigator Mir Zubair Mahmood, who led the investigation into the murder of US reporter Daniel Pearl in Karachi.

He and another security official had come at the request of the Jamaican government, an official said.

Two forensic experts from Interpol, the France-based international police agency, have also been helping the investigation.

Jamaica's deputy police commissioner Mark Shields has said the foreign investigators will help with DNA analysis and also examine theories that Woolmer may have been poisoned before being strangled.

A memorial service for Woolmer was held in Cape Town, South Africa, last week, where Woolmer's wife and two sons live - another one was held in Pakistan earlier in the week.

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