Brother keeps murder bail cash

Gary Weddell's body was found in woodland

The brother of a man who is thought to have killed himself and his mother-in-law while awaiting trial will not lose his £200,000 bail bond.

Geoffrey Weddell could not have known his brother Gary Weddell, 47, would kill himself, a High Court judge ruled.

Mr Weddell, from Woking, Surrey, put up the cash so his brother could be freed while waiting to be tried for murder.

Gary Weddell was arrested in June 2007 after his wife, Sandra, was found dead at their home in Dunstable, Beds.

Psychiatric expert

Police originally thought Mrs Weddell had committed suicide, but he was then arrested for murder after hearing evidence from her mother, Traute Maxfield, 70, about her state of mind.

A judge agreed to free him on bail after hearing evidence from a psychiatric expert who said he was not a suicide risk, and after Geoffrey Weddell offered the £200,000 surety.

Mr Weddell, a former Metropolitan Police officer, was found dead near the Broomhills Gun Club in Markyate, Hertfordshire, on 12 January.

A short time later, police found the body of Mrs Maxfield at her home in nearby Gustard Wood.

Inquiries showed Mr Weddell and Mrs Maxfield had been shot with the same gun.