Body of Helen Nicoll found by police at her family home in Cambridgeshire after neighbours heard loud bang
The wife of a Harley Street dentist is believed to have been murdered at the couple’s home in a quiet village on the outskirts of Cambridge.
The body Dr Helen Nicoll, 53, also a dentist, was found at the property in the village of Great Wilbraham by police on Friday morning, after neighbours reported a loud bang coming from the property.
A 53-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder.
Emergency services raced to the scene at 6.30am and immediately sealed off the building half an hour after villagers heard a loud noise coming from inside.
Katrina Mapeldoram, a neighbour said: “I heard a loud bang like an explosion and rushed outside. The weather was clear and there was no lightning. The horses were going mental and the chickens went berserk. It is terrible.”
One 60-year-old resident, who asked not to be named, said: “It was quite unusual to hear one loud sound with no lightning. I wondered what it was, and a short while later I heard sirens. Since then there have been police all over the village and the house has been cordoned off. It is really sad for something like this to happen.”
The owners of the large sandstone house were named locally as Stephen Nicoll, 53, and his wife Helen, both partners at a private dental practice in Hurst Park, Cambridge. They have three children.
Mr Nicoll divides his time between his Cambridge practice and his clinic in Harley Street, central London.
The couple met at The Royal Dental Hospital in London, both qualifying in 1984. Helen Nicoll initially followed a hospital career in oral surgery, including a two year registrar post at Cambridge’s Addenbrooke’s hospital.
Friends and colleagues described her as a “dedicated professional” who was also devoted to her children.
Harley Street in central London (Alamy)
Patients described their shock at the news of Dr Nicoll’s death. In a tribute on Facebook Joanna Simpkin said: “Awful, awful news. Helen was such a beautiful person and made me feel so comfortable sitting in that chair, 26 years she’s been my dentist. Nobody will ever be the same.”
Courtney Goddard said: “Helen was my dentist for the last 20 years and has always been the most lovely person. I really am lost for words. Rest peacefully lovely lady.”
Another of Dr Nicoll’s patients Gill Muir said: “This is heartbreaking news and I cannot understand why anybody would want to do this to Helen. I have been a patient at Hurst Park Dental Surgery for years and Helen was a lovely lady, always smiling and welcoming and I am devastated by this news.”
Mackie Goddard said the dentist was the “most kind, caring and gentle person you could ever meet.”
Villagers said the couple kept themselves to themselves, spending much of their free time at the home they built after moving into the area 15 years ago.
Building work had been carried out at the property in the previous weeks, with new paving stones being laid down along the driveway.
Forensic officers spent yesterday morning combing the house and expansive gardens for evidence, while two police officers stood guard outside the home.
A single bunch of red roses was left outside the home in tribute.
The large L-shaped home, believed to have more than six bedrooms, was built 14 years ago when the couple moved to the village, seven miles east of Cambridge.
Mr and Mrs Nicoll bought a small bungalow on the plot for £385,000 in December 2000 and the following year they were granted planning permission to demolish it and replace it with a new family home, now thought to be worth between £1 and £2 million.
The house, at the lower end of the village, backs onto fields and is surrounded by several thatched cottages.
Martin Gienke, 71, who is an editor for the village newsletter, said: “We’ve been here seven years and it is such a wonderful village so this is a real shock and surprise. It’s a quiet village so it is a great surprise something like this should happen.”
A neighbour, who asked not to named, said she was woken this morning by a loud bang – around 20 minutes before police arrived.
She said: “All I know is that I was woken up this morning by this really loud bang, the whole village heard it. It woke up my dogs as well, they started barking and going mad.
“I didn’t really think anything of it, I just thought it was a rumble of thunder of something. Somebody in the road said it was an explosion but it’s all just hearsay. About 20 minutes later police and forensic experts arrived.”
She added: “The whole road is really shocked and no one really knows what happened. I spoke to someone who lives two door away from where it happened and he said his whole house shook. It’s really sad.”
A spokesman for Cambridgeshire Police said: “We were called at about 6.30am to reports of a sudden death in Frog End, Great Wilbraham. Officers are at the scene and a cordon has been put in place. The death is being treated as suspicious."
The man arrested in connection with the murder has been bailed until Monday, when a post mortem will also take place
culled from Telegraph..... ...............Share this story
0 comments:
Post a Comment