Mary Ann gang all connected to London drug deals

The gang behind the brutal murder of teenager Mary Ann Leneghan was made up of Londoners involved in drug dealing, police say.

Detectives have been hunting six men who kidnapped, sexually assaulted, stabbed and left for dead the girl and an 18-year-old friend who survived a gun shot to the head.

Reading police commander Superintendent Dilip Amin said: "The six are all from London. We are investigating to establish to what extent the offenders were involved in the supply of controlled drugs."

It follows a witness report that Mary Ann struggled with a London drug dealer the day before the fatal attack, at the same car park from which she was abducted.

A friend said there were rumours the girls had "crossed" someone from the drugs underworld.

A police source has revealed that another girl who was with the two when they were approached by the men was told to "mind her own business" and left the scene unscathed.

At a public meeting, officers confirmed the murder had not been a random attack.

Three men were today being questioned.

Two were arrested in south London and one in Birmingham.

A woman has also been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.

Meanwhile, Mary Ann's older sister Mandy placed her own message among tributes and flowers at Prospect Park, in Reading where the girls were dumped early on Saturday.