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Teen’s fall ‘probably an accident’: police

Police investigating the death of a young woman in the Stockholm suburb of Hässelby, believed at first to have been pushed off a balcony, are now saying it is most likely she fell by accident.

Published: 8 June 2012 12:13 CEST

“Most things point to it being some sort of accident and there not being any crime behind the incident,” said Mats Eriksson of the west Stockholm police to newspaper Dagens Nyheter (DN).

Police had been alerted to the scene on Wednesday morning after several local residents had spotted a teenage girl lying lifeless on the ground below an apartment building balcony.

Officers on Thursday brought in two people from inside or near the flat for questioning due to “circumstances” making police have reason to suspect foul play.

However, both were soon released and police now say that they have no suspects.

At this point in the investigation, police believe that there is no reason to suspect that a crime has been committed, but they have not ruled it out completely.

“We’re not quite there yet,” said Eriksson to DN.

The forensic investigation needs to be completed and the information from the police interrogations collated before police reach an official verdict, according to the paper.

The Local/rm

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'It is very serious': Swedish PM vows to act after claims of police leaks to gangs

Sweden has struggled to contain a surge in violence in recent years as criminal gangs feud for control of drug markets, with bombings and shootings recorded weekly.

Kristersson’s comments followed a report by newspaper Dagens Nyheter (DN) that claimed to have found multiple instances of police employees leaking sensitive information about ongoing investigations to criminals.

In some cases, the police employees allegedly were in intimate relationships with gang members to whom they leaked information.

According to DN, which published the report over the weekend, in four cases the leaks – which included information about enemies of the gang member involved in the relationship – preceded revenge attacks, including murders.

At least 30 employees had for different reasons been considered “security risks” and either resigned or were forced to quit, the newspaper reported.

DN said that in several cases, criminals had begun “sexual relations with strategically selected police officers”.

Kristersson on Monday told news agency TT that it was “very concerning information”.

“There are many great risks and one is that trust in police declines, that one gets the idea that mafia-like methods are used to infiltrate law enforcement,” the head of government said.

“It is very serious and we need to address it,” he continued.

Kristersson said that purely based on the initial report he could not say whether it constituted a threat to national security or not.

“But the mere suspicion of these types of connections are damaging,” he told the news agency.

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