Church offers support after murder arrest
BBCA vicar is calling for people to let police carry out their work without speculating after the "devastating" death of a woman in Alderney.
Guernsey Police arrested a 44-year-old man on suspicion of murder on Monday after the woman was found dead at the bottom of cliffs in Alderney on Sunday evening.
The vicar of Alderney Parish Church, Reverend Samantha Martell said the church was there for anyone who needed support and her "love, thoughts and prayers" were with everyone affected.
She said: "This is a devastating time for our small community. Alderney is close-knit and I'd ask people to be patient, kind to one another, and to let the police carry out their work without speculation."
Emergency services were called to an area known as The Guns on the island's west coast after 23:00 BST on Sunday.
A search and rescue operation was launched and at about 04:28 on Monday, Channel Islands Air Search reported the first sighting of a person in the water at the base of the cliffs. A woman was later confirmed dead.
Guernsey Police said the arrested man remained in custody on Tuesday.
States of Alderney member Derwent Smithurst said the news was "shocking" and that people were shaken and could not "believe it's happened in this small community".
"It's something that happens elsewhere, not in Alderney," he said.
"We're a great community so we should all pull together and think of the family... they will be devastated but we do have the strength of our community."
He added people should not speculate.
Anyone with information that could help the investigation has been asked to contact police.
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