Killer 'may have been at funeral'

Mr Hilder was an experienced skydiver

Police say the killer of skydiver Stephen Hilder may have been at his funeral.

The 20-year-old from Hereford, fell 13,000 feet to his death at Hibaldstow Airfield, north Lincolnshire, on 4 July, after his parachute was sabotaged.

On Thursday, hundreds of mourners attended the funeral service at St Mary's Church, in Burghill, Herefordshire.

A Humberside Police spokeswoman said detectives could not discount the possibility the killer was also there.

She said "It is obviously possible and we can't rule it out."

But she added that it was not the main reason why detectives had gone to the service.

A guard of honour carried Mr Hilder's coffin into the church

She said: "They have built up a relationship with Stephen's family and we wanted to pay our respects."

Police launched a murder inquiry after it was discovered the cord on the Oxfordshire army cadet's main parachute and the strapping on his reserve chute had been deliberately cut.

Last weekend members of the skydiving community held a minute's silence at the start of the British Formation Skydiving National Championships at Hibaldstow.

A memorial service for Mr Hilder will be held at the Royal Military College of Science at the Defence Academy in October when students return from their summer vacations.