A FORMER Lancashire police boss has announced that there was “no murder” at the infamous Haut de la Garenne children’s home.

Det Supt Mick Gradwell left Lancashire Police earlier this year to lead the inquiry into the alleged abuse on Jersey.

Yesterday he dismissed previous police statements that a child’s skull had been found, and said underground rooms previously believed to be “punishment rooms” were “just cellars.”

He said later investigations of the suspected skull fragment had shown it was more likely to be part of a coconut, and that there was no evidence metal found in the cellar was the remains of manacles.

Mr Gradwell was chosen to take charge the investigation after leading some of Lancashire’s biggest investigations, including the murder of Bacup student Sophie Lancaster last year and the deaths of the Morecambe Bay cockle-pickers in 2006.