GUILTY UK - Rebecca Thompson, 11, strangled in her bed, Bushey, Herts, 21 June 2013

The father of an 11-year-old girl found dead over the weekend is under arrest in hospital under suspicion of her murder.

Rebecca Thompson's mother found her dead at the family home in Bushey, two miles east of Watford, around midday on Saturday [...].

Earlier that day, her father Simon crashed his Volkswagen Golf into a roundabout at high speed in what is believed to have been a suicide attempt. He was alone in the car.

A Hertfordshire Police spokeswoman told the Evening Standard the 52-year-old was expected to be in hospital for some time and would be interviewed once deemed fit by medical staff.

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A father has appeared in court charged with strangling his 11-year-old daughter at their family home in Hertfordshire.

Rebecca Thompson’s body was found by her mother at the house in Holmefield Road, Bushey, on Saturday 22 June. Reports suggest she may have lain dead for up to 12 hours before being discovered.

Simon Thompson, 52, was involved in a car crash in the early hours of the same day, and had been held under police guard at hospital until officers were first allowed to question him on Friday.

He has now been charged with his daughter’s murder, and appeared at Hatfield Magistrate’s Court today.

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Simon Thompson killed Rebecca at her home in Bushey, Herts, in June.

He admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and was jailed for 20 years on Thursday.

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