A ferry has been held in port for more than 10 hours after police boarded the ship to arrest a suspect in a murder investigation.
Passengers were stranded on the vessel after the huge operation saw officers force the DFDS ship to return to the Port of Dover this morning, shortly after departing for Calais.
The Met Police has tonight confirmed a man has been arrested in connection with a fatal stabbing in Chingford, east London at the weekend.
The 22-year-old was arrested at the Port of Dover this evening on suspicion of the murder of Tyler Hayward in Waltham Forest on Sunday.
Det Ch Insp Rebecca Woodsford, who is leading the investigation from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command, thanked the members of the public for their patience during the operation.
She added: “The thoughts of the investigation team remain with Tyler’s family and our specially trained officers continue to support them at this difficult time.
“Since Sunday we have been making extensive enquiries and this resulted in searches being carried out at the Port of Dover today.
“I’d like to thank Kent Police and other agencies for their support as we carried out these checks, as well as members of the public who were disrupted while this vital work took place.”
Helen Burdall was among those on the DFDS ship Cote d’Opale after boarding at 10am at the Port of Dover along with her family for a 10-day holiday to France.
The mum-of-three, who is travelling with her husband Luke and their children aged seven, five and two, told KentOnline the boat set off about half an hour after its scheduled departure of 10.40am.
But 20 minutes into the crossing to Calais, it turned back around to Dover.
The 37-year-old, who lives on the Kent-Sussex border, explained: “The boat turned around with no explanation and came back to Dover.
“We weren’t given any information other than they were apparently looking for somebody criminal.
“We were then kept on the boat for more than 10 hours.
“For the first four hours, we were kept upstairs and weren’t allowed to get down to the cars at all.
“Then we were all moved downstairs to the car deck and had to stay in our vehicles for two hours. We were then moved back upstairs to Deck 8. It’s been quite stressful.”
Mrs Burdall said staff were in the dark as well and could not update passengers with any news about proceedings and when they would get under way.
She said her family and passengers were being offered food and water during the incident.
The ferry set off for Calais at around 8.40pm and shortly after, the Met Police issued a statement confirming the force had made an arrest as part of its investigation.
The force said officers were called to reports of a stabbing in Chingford Mount Road at 9.14pm on Sunday.
Police attended with paramedics but 26-year-old Mr Hayward died at the scene.
In a statement, his family said: “We are struggling with the tragic loss of Tyler, a beautiful soul with the kindest of hearts.
“A much-loved son, grandson and brother, who will be missed immensely. We would appreciate privacy at this time whilst we come to terms with our loss.”
