Mary Ann: woman arrested

Police arrested a woman today in connection with the murder of teenager Mary Ann Leneghan.

She was held in Birmingham on suspicion of assisting an offender.

Detectives are continuing to question three men, two arrested in London and one in Birmingham.

It emerged today that Mary Ann, 16, was seen struggling with a drug dealer the day before she was kidnapped and murdered.

The attacker, said to be a muscular black man, was spotted at about 2pm on Thursday near Mary Ann's home in central Reading, telling people he was "looking for a girl". Two hours later a witness said he saw the teenager in tears as she fought to escape the clutches of the agitated man outside the Wallingford Arms pub car park.

Mary Ann and an 18-year-old friend were taken from the same spot the fol lowing night before being sexually assaulted, tortured, stabbed and left for dead at Prospect Park.

On the day of the fatal attack Mary Ann had told family and friends she was in "big trouble".

The witness to the earlier attack, who did not want to be named, said the man lives in London but operates in the west Reading area, known for an increasing drugs and prostitution problem.

Residents say Mary Ann was frequently seen hanging around street corners known as drug pick-up points.