Academy footballer held over murder (From The Argus)

Academy footballer held over murder

5:36pm Monday 11th June 2012 in National News © Press Association 2013

A footballer with a Premier League academy has been arrested in connection with the murder of a 15-year-old girl who was stabbed at a house at the weekend.

Megan-Leigh Peat, from Westoning, Bedfordshire, died after being stabbed at a house in Ailsbury Road in Ampthill at around 1.30am on Saturday, Bedfordshire Police said.

Stoke City confirmed that academy player Andrew Hall has been arrested and the 18-year-old midfielder is being treated in hospital for injuries.

Police said an 18-year-old man was arrested shortly after the incident on suspicion of murder. They have not named the man, but have confirmed he was known to the victim. He has not yet been interviewed as he is under police guard in hospital after being taken for treatment to an injury.

Miss Peat, who was a pupil at Harlington Upper School in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, had gone to the house in Ailsbury Road, which belonged to a mutal friend, with an 18-year-old man whom she had spent Friday evening with at various pubs in Flitwick and Ampthill.

Police were called to reports of a woman having been fatally injured at the semi-detached house. Officers are continuining to investigate the circumstances surrounding the murder.

The girl's parents are being supported by specially trained family liasion officers from the Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire major crime unit. Pupils at Miss Peat's school are also being supported by staff.

On Sunday, friends of the victim arrived at the scene to lay flowers, photographs and notes at the cordon.

Chelsie McAneny, 16, said: "Everyone loved her, she was bubbly and popular and she stuck up for everyone, even when she was down.

"She was a party girl, she loved it. You could hear her a mile away. Everyone would say she was a good friend. She has been through a lot, which is not for me to go into, but she was proper strong."