Dead woman named in murder investigation

Police investigating the murder of a woman in Alderney have named her as 34-year-old Hannah Benfield.

Her body was found in the sea at the base of cliffs on the western end of the Channel Island in an area known as The Guns early on Monday. A 44-year-old man was later arrested on suspicion of murder and remains in police custody.

Guernsey Police said "the impact of an incident of this nature" on Alderney's small, close-knit community "cannot be overstated".

Officers said specialist family liaison officers had been supporting her relatives. The force said the family had asked for privacy as they came to terms with what had happened.

Emergency services were called to The Guns 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.

Guernsey Police has appealed for any dashcam footage from vehicles travelling along Rue De Longis in Alderney, or other parts of the west of the island, from between 19:30 and 23:00 BST on Sunday.

Alderney vicar, Mother Samantha Martell has urged islanders to support one another and avoid speculation about the case.

Martell said the incident had "shaken" the island's "close-knit community" and that her thoughts were with the woman's family, friends and colleagues.

She said residents should focus on caring for those most affected rather than seeking answers before the police investigation had been completed.

"What the community needs to do now is really come together, to look after one another," she said. "Not to speculate, not to judge, but just to be what we can be, a real community."

She warned that social media could fuel rumours and finger-pointing, urging people to "take a breath, take a step back" and allow police to do their work.

Martell said the whole island felt subdued by the tragedy.

"Something like this, you read about it and it's always what happens to other people, but we are now other people," she said.

While acknowledging it would take time to recover, she added: "It's an absolute tragedy... but I think it will make us stronger as a community and draw us all together."

States of Alderney member Derwent Smithurst said the news was "shocking" and 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.

Follow BBC Guernsey on X, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].