Met officers visit Latvia to investigate killing of mother and daughter
Two Metropolitan Police officers have flown to Latvia as part of investigations into the killings of a mother and daughter in south-east London.
Pharmacy technician Svetlana Zolotovska, 40, was found with her throat cut at a bus stop in Beckton on Thursday morning. Her 70-year-old mother Antonina Belska, who moved from Latvia in May, was discovered soon after stabbed to death at their home nearby.
Mrs Zolotovska's estranged husband, Sergei Zolotovsky, was arrested on suspicion of murder after being found in the loft at the property, which had been set alight. He had slashed his neck.
A friend of the victims told how two Met officers had travelled to Latvia, where the family is from.
The friend said: "I've have been trying to reach Lana's father in Latvia but he is very old and ill with heart problems. Hearing this news is going to be dreadful for him. I don't think he will be able to come to England as he is quite ill, and I don't think there is any other family. Two police officers went out there on the evening it happened."
A Met spokesman was unable to confirm whether or not officers had travelled to Latvia, but said the force was working with the Latvian authorities and Mrs Zolotovska's father had been informed of the deaths.
Mr Zolotovsky is in a serious but stable condition in hospital. Officers are yet to formally interview him.
The couple were going through a divorce after separating a year ago. Scotland Yard confirmed that they had been called to the house in Beckton before the killings.
A spokesman said: "Both the victim and her partner contacted police on four occasions between 2008 and 2009. The last contact was in April 2009 when the victim called police to allege her former partner wanted to gain access to the property they had once shared.
"Whilst neither party wanted to pursue the matter further Newham's Community Safety Unit contacted the victim at a later date to offer her reassurance and advice on how to keep her property secure."
