Man charged with murder following assault in New Haw

A man has been charged in connection the murder of Gary Hopkins, aged 42, who died following an assault in Heathervale Way in New Haw, earlier this week on Monday 4 October.

David Peter Jacobs, 31, of no fixed abode, has been charged with murder; with threatening a person with a bladed article; and with failing to comply with a section 49 notice to disclose the key to protected information.

Detective Chief Inspector Charlotte Rimmer, the senior investigating officer in the case, said: “Our thoughts and deepest sympathies continue to be with the family and friends of Gary Hopkins. Officers have worked tirelessly to bring the investigation to this point, however our work continues and yet again I’m appealing for information.

"If you were a witness to the assault, saw anything suspicious in the area on Monday 4 October between about 7-8pm, or have any information that you believe may help our investigation but have not yet spoken to us please do get in touch with reference number PR\45210104788. If you wish to pass on information anonymously you can speak to CrimeStoppers on 0800 555111."

David Jacobs appeared before Guildford Magistrates' Court this morning (9 October) and has been remanded into custody before appearing in court on Monday 11 October.

If you can help, please contact us quoting crime reference number PR/45210104788 via:

• Webchat on our website surrey.police.uk
• Online https://www.surrey.police.uk/tua/tell-us-about/cor/tell-us-about-existing-case-report/
• If you do not wish to leave your name, please call the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
• Alternatively, you can also upload directly to our Major Incident Public Portal here - https://mipp.police.uk/operation/4521K52-PO1 

 

FURTHER INFORMATION

Section 49 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 introduces a power to give notices that require the disclosure of protected or encrypted information that would facilitate the obtaining or discovery of the “key”. A key is defined for the purposes of the Act as any key, code, password, algorithm or other data that allows access to the electronic data or facilitates the putting of the data in an intelligible form.

The grounds for a section 49 notice are:

(a) that the key is in the possession of the person on whom the notice is served; (b) disclosure is necessary for: (i) national security; (ii) preventing or detecting crime; (iii) economic well-being of the United Kingdom; or (iv) securing performance by any public authority of a statutory power or duty; (c)

the disclosure requirement is proportionate to what is sought to be achieved; and (d) an intelligible version of the relevant protected information cannot be obtained by other reasonable means.