'Stalker' link to Hannah murder

'Stalker' link to Hannah murder

Police found Hannah's bag and phone on Monday afternoon

A man who approached murdered teenager Hannah Foster nine months before her death has come forward.

Detectives hunting the killer of the 17-year-old student said that she had been approached on three separate occasions by an Asian man or men.

On Tuesday night, shortly after an appeal was made for the man to come forward, a 36-year-old went voluntarily to Portswood police station.

A police spokeswoman said the man spoke to Hannah in the first incident in summer 2002.

Detectives have questioned him and are satisified he had nothing to do with her murder.

Mobile phone dumped

But Hannah is reported to have told a friend that she was approached in January by another Asian man near her home who called her by her name.

He is thought to have been driving either a white or red car.

Hannah told her friend that this man was again waiting at the end of her road in February and again called her by name.

Detective Inspector Tony Adams said: "We still need to hear from the person or people who approached Hannah earlier this year in order to clarify the circumstances."

Hannah disappeared on Friday night while walking home from a pub in Portswood, Southampton.

Her body was found on Sunday afternoon several miles away. She had been strangled.

On Monday, Hannah's bag and mobile phone were found in a recycling dump in Portsmouth.

It is believed the items had been thrown into a bottle bank in Portsmouth or Southsea.

So far, the police have received more than 200 calls to their incident room.

Hannah was last seen in Highfield Lane about five minutes walk from her home in Grosvenor Road, Portswood, Southampton, at 2250 GMT on Friday.