Police get more time to quiz landlord in Joanna Yeates murder case

The landlord of murdered Joanna Yeates remained in custody this morning after British police were granted more time to question him about her death.

Chris Jefferies, 65, was arrested on Thursday morning and a magistrate last night granted Avon and Somerset Police an extension to hold him in custody.

The development came after officers spent the day talking to Peter Stanley, 56, a neighbour of the retired public school teacher in Clifton, Bristol, who said he and Mr Jefferies helped start Miss Yeates’s boyfriend’s car the day she vanished.

Mr Stanley recalled how they used jump leads to start Greg Reardon’s car, sending him on his way to Sheffield.

“It was a non-event at the time, but absolutely poignant now – what if we didn’t get the car to start?” said Mr Stanley.

Hours after successfully starting the car, Miss Yeates, a landscape architect, disappeared and her snow-covered body was discovered more than a week later on Christmas Day.

Police confirmed Mr Stanley, who lives in a flat in the mansion to the right of Mr Jefferies’ in Canynge Road, Clifton, is being treated as a witness.

The 56-year-old spent the majority of yesterday helping detectives with their inquiries and was seen leaving his home in his maroon BMW with a detective, before returning later in a marked police car.

Earlier, he was spotted showing the police a distinctive army-style 4x4 truck in the driveway.

Four large brown evidence bags and a laptop case were also seen being taken from his flat by a plain-clothed detective.

Mr Stanley said he did not think Mr Jefferies spoke to Mr Reardon about going away for the weekend, and added: “I wouldn’t say there was anything tense between them.”

Mr Jefferies, who sports distinctive straggly white hair and was described by a neighbour as a “nutty professor type”, was arrested at 7am on Thursday.

The bachelor was taken into custody just 24 hours after he claimed he saw three people leaving Miss Yeates’s flat on the night she vanished – December 17.

Police yesterday refused to clarify how long the new custody extension lasts for.

Mr Jeffries is a prominent figure in his Neighbourhood Watch group and taught English at Clifton College, just yards from his flat, from the early 1970s.

He took early retirement in 2001.

He is an enthusiastic activist for the Liberal Democrats in Clifton and a member of the Clifton and Hotwells Improvement Society (CHIS), which campaigns to conserve buildings in the area.

Resident Tony Buss, 51, said his arrest came as “a shock and surprise”.

Another neighbour, a 26-year-old man who did not want to be named, said: “It’s all been pretty scary, especially for my girlfriend as I’m away most of the week so it’s been pretty scary for her to be home alone.”

Referring to Mr Jefferies, he said: “We see him all the time on the road. He’s a bit of a nutty professor type by the looks of it.”

CHIS secretary RoseMary Musgrave said: “He’s certainly an active member and does come to meetings from time to time. He’s not a member of the committee, though.”

In 2005 he was at the forefront of efforts to stop building work on fields near his home.

He led the Canynge Road Campaign Group to save the fields from development and wrote a series of letters to Bristol City Council outlining the group’s opposition to the scheme.

Ray Lowman, who lives in a flat opposite the mansion where Mr Jefferies and Miss Yeates lived, said: “I’m amazed by it really but also find it quite disconcerting. He is basically a pillar of society. One of the well-known familiar locals.”

Councillor Trevor Blythe, who represents Clifton Ward for the Lib Dems on Bristol City Council, said: “We were absolutely flabbergasted when we heard he’d been arrested. I didn’t know him particularly well, but it was very surprising.

“It’s a terrible tragedy what’s happened, and I’m just flabbergasted that Mr Jefferies has been arrested, and we await any developments.”

Clifton College head Mark Moore said Mr Jefferies had at one time been the school’s head of English and there were no disciplinary issues recorded against him.

“There was nothing in his record at all and he took early retirement, which he is perfectly entitled to do,” Mr Moore said.

“When a new head of English came into the school, he decided to bow out at that point.”

Police have taken two cars away from the Canynge Road site – a silver Chrysler Neon parked on the street and a grey Volvo S40 which was on Mr Jefferies’ drive.

Forensic officers spent yesterday in both Miss Yeates’s flat and Mr Jefferies’ property – taking away large brown evidence bags from both.

Officers continue to appeal to anyone who may have information to contact the Operation Braid incident room on 0845 456 7000 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

A £10,000 (€11,600) reward is being offered to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.