Woolmer investigation chief cancels UK holidays

The police chief leading the investigation into Bob Woolmer's murder has bowed to pressure and cancelled his Easter holiday to work on the case.

British Mark Shields, deputy commissioner of the Jamaica constabulary, had been planning to travel to Suffolk to see his two children.

But after suggestions Jamaican prime minister Portia Simpson Miller is worried about bad publicity over the killing, the divorced 48-year-old former Met officer vowed to stay in personal control of the case.

His decision comes as Scotland Yard sent a team of detectives to Jamaica to help with inquiries into the death of the 58-year-old Pakistan cricket coach.

Three detectives and a scenes of crime officer led by a detective superintendent have flown out to the country after a formal request from the island's authorities-Pakistan is also sending two senior investigators to join forensics experts from Interpol and the 40-strong Jamaican team already working on the case.

Mr Woolmer was discovered unconscious in his bathroom at the Pegasus Hotel, Kingston, on 18 March following his team's humiliating defeat to Ireland in the World Cup the day before.

A post-mortem examination revealed he was strangled, and there has been speculation he was murdered because he was about to blow the whistle on match-fixing in cricket.

But police are now looking into the possibility that Mr Woolmer died of natural causes.