No smoke without fire?

The Joanna Yeates, case was all the rage not so long ago as the 25 year old was found murdered and there was a lot of speculation as to who and what. One of the first arrests was of her landlord Christopher Jefferies, though eventually it was her neighbour Dutch engineer Vincent Tabak who was eventually charged with her murder. One of the things I discovered about Jefferies today though is that he was held on bail for 9 weeks and only released from police bail last Friday.

Express.

THE landlord of murdered landscape architect Joanna Yeates, 25, has finally been released from his police bail without charge, it emerged yesterday.

Retired public school master Christopher Jefferies, 66, believes police made a “ghastly mistake” in arresting him, say friends.

He has now put his £245,000 Bristol flat up for sale and told friends, who say he has been hounded out of his home, that he wants to “move on”.

Avon police confirmed that Mr Jefferies was released last Friday but declined to reveal why he was held on bail for so long.

So why hold the guy for so long when they had already arrested someone for the crime? There had already been a lot of unfair speculation about Jefferies anyway simply because he looked a bit odd and the fact that he was on bail for so long didn't help. Nor have the police exactly helped the guy by not commenting on why he was on bail so long so you'll still end up with a lot of speculation as to what it is that had them so interested for so long. Could it have been an error? Well yes, but usually the police will admit it and apologise (actually they'll put out a statement absolving them of guilt in a wishy washy manner that might look like an apology, but manifestly isn't) As it is they've left Jefferies in the position of guilt by association and possibly themselves in line for a massive damages claim that will eventually no doubt come out of the taxpayers pocket.

The fact that he was released after 9 weeks without charge stinks to high heaven though, it looks bad on him as people will still presume guilt (they'll have his DNA and a record too) it looks bad on them because after 9 weeks they simply let him go without explanation or apology and it looks like their actions have forced an innocent man into having to sell up and leave.

I await their explanation with interest, but I'm not going to hold my breath against the possibility of actually getting one.