MP’s niece held over ‘copycat’ killing

The multi-millionaire Tory MP for Grantham and Stamford, Quentin Davies, who defected to Labour in June much to Gordon Brown's delight, is in the headlines again. His 28-year-old niece, Jessica Davies, is in jail in Paris after allegedly slashing the throat of her lover in a crime thought to be inspired by the murder of exchange student Meredith Kercher in Perugia.
Davies (left), 63, who unlike the average northern Labour MP lives on a rambling country estate outside Bolton with his French wife Chantal, was apparently on a business trip to Cambodia when the news came through of Jessica's arrest.
French police say Jessica has admitted slashing Olivier Mugnier's throat having intended to heighten an "extreme sexual experience" by putting a knife to his throat. After slicing an artery, she is understood to have stabbed him to death "in anger and frustration".
Detectives who questioned her suggest she may have been influenced by the widespread coverage in the French media of the murder of Meredith Kercher, whose throat was cut after she allegedly refused to take part in 'extreme' group sex.
Neighbours of Jessica - who, they understood, did not work and lived on a private income - told journalists that she had apparently turned to drink and drugs after breaking up with her fiance, a French jeweller. On Saturday night she was seen in an Irish pub drinking heavily while she chatted to Mugnier. They then went back to her flat together.
When police arrived, they found a knife lying next to Davies. They said she was "barely able to stand up, let alone speak" because of the amount of drink she'd consumed.
One member of Jessica's Paris drinking circle told reporters: "She went on about being Quentin Davies's niece whenever he was in the news. It clearly meant a lot to her." ·