Murder hunt suffers blow

Detectives in Kent, leading the hunt for the killer of Lin Russell and her six-year-old daughter, Megan, said yesterday that forensic tests on a hammer found near the scene proved it was not the murder weapon.

The news emerged just days before the funerals of Mrs Russell and Megan in north Wales. When the hammer was discovered on 9 September, two months after the brutal murders, police described it as "crucial" evidence.