15,000 hours of CCTV footage collected as Lucy McHugh murder investigation continues in Hampshire

POLICE officers say they are '˜really grateful' for the public response to the death of 13-year-old Southampton girl Lucy McHugh '“ but warn that there's still much more work to be done.
By The Newsroom
Published 9th Aug 2018, 11:32 BST
Updated 1st Sep 2018, 10:09 BST
Lucy McHugh, 13, was found stabbed to death. Picture: Hampshire ConstabularyLucy McHugh, 13, was found stabbed to death. Picture: Hampshire Constabulary
Lucy McHugh, 13, was found stabbed to death. Picture: Hampshire Constabulary

Lucy left her house in Mansel Road East in Southampton at 9am on Wednesday, July 25.

Her body was then found by the Sports Centre the following day.

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Hampshire Constabulary now has CCTV footage from around 250 premises, such as shops, other businesses, council buildings and private houses '“ totalling 15,000 hours of footage.

Lucy McHugh, 13, was found stabbed to death. Picture: Hampshire ConstabularyLucy McHugh, 13, was found stabbed to death. Picture: Hampshire Constabulary
Lucy McHugh, 13, was found stabbed to death. Picture: Hampshire Constabulary

Almost one million people have seen the appeal online, with police collecting around 800 items during the course of the investigation.

Detective Superintendent Paul Barton said: '˜The public response has been amazing and we are really grateful for the information we have received.

'˜Every single report is assessed by the investigation team as we piece together what happened.

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'˜This is one of our biggest investigations in recent years and more than 200 officers have been involved up to now.

'˜However, there is so much work to be done and we continue to seek information about the murder weapon and Lucy's final movements.

'˜Some people may have been away and missed our appeals, so we urge members of the public to keeping sharing them with their friends.

'˜We now know that Lucy was in Lordswood on the morning she left home. What I really want to know is where she was going and who was she meeting.

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'˜Lucy may have told you this in confidence but you are not being disloyal to her by giving us this information now - you will not be in trouble if you have been holding this back.

'˜Lucy was wearing distinctive camouflage leggings and may or may not have been wearing her distinctive black and white jacket that day.

'˜If you have any information that may help us, however insignificant it may seem, please get in touch.'

A 24-year-old man from Southampton was arrested on suspicion of murder and sexual activity with a child, and was subsequently technically bailed in relation to those offences, with conditions not to enter the Southampton area.

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The same man was charged with an offence which relates to failing to disclose a password to his Facebook account to detectives investigating Lucy murder.

He was remanded in custody until August 31.

Anyone with information about Lucy's death is asked to call 101, quoting Operation Refund.