MP asks why detective on murder charge was bailed

LONDON - A politician called on the government's top legal adviser on Monday to examine how a police inspector who was facing trial for the murder of his wife had been allowed to go free on bail.

The body of Garry Weddell, 47, was found in a field in the grounds of Broomhills Shooting Club in Markyate, Hertfordshire, on Saturday.

The same day, the body of his mother-in-law, Traute Maxfield, was also discovered, about 11 miles away. Media reports said Weddell had shot her and later turned the gun on himself.

Mike Penning, MP for Hemel Hempstead, is to ask the Attorney General how Weddell had been let out on bail against the advice of the Crown Prosecution Service.

"I cannot think of anything more serious than a murder charge," he told Reuters. "The system should be there to protect. It seems illogical that he was given bail.

He is to ask why bail was granted and whether police or the dead woman's family had objected.

Judge John Bevan, who agreed to Weddell's bail, was reported in The Evening Standard as saying: "I can't remember the precise details so it would be wholly inappropriate to comment at this time."

The Judicial Communications Office had no official comment.

Phil Brown, owner of the shooting club, said the former Metropolitan police inspector, who was not a member, had been found dead by an instructor.

Detective Superintendent Andy Shrives, from the Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire Major Crime Unit, said: "We are keen to trace the movements of Mr Weddell on Friday January 11th and Saturday January 12th and are also keen to speak to anyone who may have attended Broomhills Shooting Club on these days."

Post mortems are being carried out on both bodies, the results of which are expected to be released later on Monday.

Weddell had been charged with the murder of his wife Sandra, 44, last June and was due to stand trial later in the year.

Her body had been found in the family garage in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, in January of that year. She had been strangled with a cable tie.