Four more arrests in hunt for Mary Ann's murderers

Police investigating the brutal murder of teenager Mary Ann Leneghan arrested four more people in south London in the early hours of today.

There are now five men in custody on suspicion of murder. Three woman have been arrested for allegedly assisting offenders.

Detective Superintendent Mark Warwick, who is leading the investigation, said it was "at a significant stage", but he renewed his appeal for anyone with information to come forward.

Mary Ann, 16, was kidnapped, drugged, sexually assaulted and then stabbed to death in Prospect Park, Reading on Saturday. Her 18-year-old friend was also attacked in the five-hour ordeal and survived a gunshot to the head.

Officers said today that the six-man gang who carried out the attack were drug dealers from the capital.

According to one witness, Mary Ann struggled with a London drug dealer the day before the fatal attack, at the same car park from which she was abducted.

A friend said there were rumours the girls had "crossed" someone from the drugs underworld.

A police source has revealed that another girl who was with the two when they were approached by the men was told to "mind her own business" and left the scene unscathed.

At a public meeting, officers confirmed the murder had not been a random attack.

Meanwhile, Mary Ann's older sister Mandy placed her own message among tributes and flowers at Prospect Park.

It read: "You said that if you go you wanted the world to know. You got that but I didn't think it would be in this way."