THORPE HITMAN MIGHT BE ALIVE Police find lead on bungling gunman who shot dog
A PROBE into the Jeremy Thorpe scandal is to be reopened after police may have wrongly assumed one of the suspects is dead.
A previous investigation into the alleged attempted murder of the then-liberal Party leader’s gay lover Norman Scott was closed last year.
Gwent Police assumed that Andrew Newton – who shot Mr Scott’s dog Rinka and claimed he was paid to kill Mr Scott – had died. But they now say he could still be alive. After they concluded the airline pilot was dead the Crown Prosecution Service told Mr Scott no further action would be taken. But Mr Scott, 78, said: “I just don’t think anyone’s tried hard enough to look for him. I really don’t.” Gwent Police said yesterday that after revisiting some enquiries, investigators QUEEN of the cycling track Victoria Pendleton is showing fine form as she enjoys the Epsom Derby yesterday.
The 37-year-old former Olympian was among a host of stars who joined Her Majesty at the classic event.
Also looking hot to trot was actress Elizabeth Hurley, 52, who plays Queen Helena Henstridge in The Royals.
And the real Queen, whose colours were lilac, was flashing a smile that suggested she made a decent punt at the Surrey flat race.
Screen legend Dame Helen Mirren, 72, who played the monarch in hit film The Queen, looked equally regal in a large-brimmed lacy black hat.
The £1.5million prize went to 16/1 Masar, ridden by William Buick, in a huge upset. Masar is owned by Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and it was the first Derby win for his Godolphin stable. It could be the start of a new racing dynasty... “identified information, which indicates that Mr Newton may still be alive. Further enquiries will be conducted to trace Mr Newton to assess if he is able to assist.”
More revelations have been unearthed in a BBC Four documentary The Jeremy Thorpe Scandal which will air tonight after the end of the BBC One dramatisation A Very British Scandal, starring Hugh Grant.
Mr Thorpe, once tipped as a future prime minister, was cleared at the Old Bailey in 1979 of a murder plot along with three others. He died four years ago.