Jamaican police chief refuses to confirm Woolmer was poisoned

Police chief Mark Shields would not confirm in a Sky interview today whether Woolmer, found dead in his hotel room just one day after Pakistan's shock exit from the ICC Cricket World Cup, had been poisoned.

Medical examiners have found evidence Woolmer died of manual strangulation, though reports have suggested poisoning was also involved.

The body of the coach will be released shortly and returned to his family, Jamaican government officials have said.

After talks involving Jamaican deputy police commissioner Mark Shields and Kingston coroner Patrick Murphy, it was agreed to return Woolmer's body to his homeland of South Africa, the ministry of national security said.

"Mr Shields says he has spoken to Mr Woolmer's widow, Gill, and apprised her of the latest developments," a government statement said.

"He has also been in contact and is working with the funeral home holding Mr Woolmer's body with a view to repatriating it to South Africa as soon as possible."

Woolmer, 58, was found collapsed in his Kingston hotel room on 18 March and died later in hospital.

It was not clear when the body would leave Jamaica but a national security ministry official said efforts would be made to release it by tomorrow or Thursday.

Officials would not say whether the coroner's inquest would go ahead.

Woolmer's death came less than 24 hours after Pakistan's shock World Cup defeat to debutants Ireland which knocked the 1992 winners out of the tournament.

It cast a shadow over the showpiece tournament of international one-day cricket which is being held in the Caribbean for the first time.

Police have said that the former England test cricketer died of manual strangulation and they launched a murder investigation which is continuing. Other reports say he was poisoned with snake venom.

Police said they had received toxicology reports on Woolmer's body but have not released details. Media reports said the corpse had been embalmed.

The Jamaican government said last week that the inquest would be postponed due to "significant" new developments in the murder investigation but it did not elaborate.

The seven-week World Cup culminates in the final in Barbados on Saturday.