Naomi murder: man charged

Police charged a 19-year-old man last night with the murder of schoolgirl Naomi Smith. Edwin Hopkins, from Ansley Common, Warwickshire, was charged at Nuneaton police station and will appear before magistrates in the town tomorrow morning. A 45-year-old man and a 42-year-old woman were released on police bail.

Naomi, 15, was found stabbed and mutilated just 200 yards from her home at Bretts Hall Estate, in Ansley Common. Her father, Brian, 45, and her best friend, 15-year-old Emma Jones, found her body beneath a wooden slide at a nearby children's playground on 14 September. Naomi had gone out that evening to post a letter but never returned home.