Man suspected of Lucy McHugh murder bailed by police

The 24 year old arrested on suspicion of murder and sexual activity with a child in Southampton has been bailed this morning on conditions that he does not enter the Southampton area.

It has emerged that the man had been residing in the schoolgirl’s family home prior to her death, a neighbour stating ‘Her mum had got him a job as a carer’.

The information is at present that Lucy left home in Mansel Road East at 9:30am on Wednesday the 25th July and never returned home as expected.

The police are appealing for information which will aid their investigation of Lucy’s death, DS Paul Barton stating ‘This investigation very much continues and we really need the help of the community to understand Lucy’s activity in the 24 hours before her body was found.’

She was last seen wearing a distinctive black jacket with white sleeves with the logo of the band 'Falling in Reverse' on the front and 'RADKE 01' in red on the back.

DS Barton acknowledged the impact this incident has had on the local community with ‘emotions running high’ but urges the public to minimise speculation ‘especially on social media, it is not helpful and leads to further issues we need to manage. This detracts us from the murder investigation. We will update the community with as much information as we can without compromising the investigation, we really appreciate your support in this.’

Anyone with information should contact the police on 101, quoting reference number 44180282545.

A GoFundMe page has also been set up to raise £5,000 to go toward the costs of Lucy’s funeral and has so far received more than £6,000. To contribute visit https://www.gofundme.com/53y46b-one-of-our-own