SIGNIFICANT SHORTS : Police prepare for arrival of French murder detectives

Police have begun preparing for the arrival of French detectives investigating the sex killing of 13-year-old Caroline Dickinson on a school trip to Brittany. In her home town of Launceston, Devon and Cornwall force Inspector Paul Munns said he anticipated the French inquiries "could take some time".

The Launceston Community College pupil was raped and suffocated in a tiny dormitory at a hostel in Pleine Fougeres on 18 July. She was among a party of 35 girls and five boys from the 1,200-pupil college on a week- long trip, together with five teachers. Insp Munns said it was not known whether the French police would require DNA samples from the boys on the trip. The cross-Channel initiative followed the release of 39-year-old drifter Patrice Pade, who confessed to Caroline's murder but was cleared when his DNA did not match samples taken from her.