Stephen Farrow

Murders of John Suddards and Betty Yates now formally linked

Police will this morning continue to question Stephen Farrow over two knife murders follow his arrest yesterday in a dawn raid in Folkestone.

Farrow, 47, was arrested by Kent Police at a property in Black Bull Road at around 4.20am on Sunday morning after a tip-off by a member of the public.

Police had earlier appealed for help in tracking down the man as part of their investigation into the murder of Gloucestershire vicar, the Rev John Suddards, who was found with multiple stab wounds. He was found dead at his vicarage in Thornbury.

And yesterday the police formally linked his murder with that of ex-teacher Betty Yates. The 77-year-old had been beaten with her walking stick before being stabbed in the neck at her remote cottage in Worcestershire last month.

Farrow will be quizzed over both murders.

A Kent police spokesman explained: “Officers from Avon and Somerset Constabulary, in conjunction with teams from Kent Police, attended the address to contain the incident.

“On leaving the address, he was arrested on suspicion of murder and taken into police custody. No-one was injured.”