Web may hold firework murder clue

Mary Fox helped her 17-year-old son jump out of a window on the first floor

Police are to examine social networking sites on the internet as part of investigations into the murder of a mother-of-nine from Cornwall.

Mary Fox, 59, died in a fire after a firework was believed to have been put through the front door of her home on Wallace Road, Bodmin.

Police said there was speculation about possible culprits being posted on the web with names being "bandied about".

Insp Matt Longman said websites would be examined as part of the inquiry.

"In an incident like this we will use social networking sites to progress our inquiries," he said.

"Anything that comes to light we will follow up but we cannot say there is anything specific on them that will take the investigation forward at this time."

Floral tributes

Floral tributes have been placed outside the house where Ms Fox died on Thursday night.

Police say that the "key to solving the murder inquiry lies within the local community of Bodmin".

They have stepped up patrols on the Berryfields estate where Ms Fox and her 17-year-old son, Raum, lived.

Door-to-door inquiries have also been carried out over the weekend and the remains of fireworks found in the street collected for potential evidence.

Raum Fox alerted neighbours that his mother was inside the burning house

Police have also played down earlier reports that Ms Fox's son, whom she helped escape from an upstairs window, had mild learning disabilities and may have been harassed by local youths.

Superintendent Martin Orpe said: "Initial enquires have revealed that there are no mental health issues in relation to either the deceased, Mary Fox, or her son Raum."

He added that there was no obvious evidence of intimidation or bullying to either of them and that such suggestions were "purely speculation" and "unfounded".

Ms Fox, whose family have described her as a "loving and caring" self-sacrificing woman, is believed to have gone back to rescue her cat after helping her son escape.

The teenager ran to alert neighbours that his mother was still trapped inside and when fire crews entered the property they found she had already died.

Raum was treated in hospital for the effects of smoke inhalation and is currently being looked after by his elder siblings.