Woolmer was not murdered

The former England Test player died after being found unconscious in his Kingston hotel room on March 18 after his side's World Cup loss to Ireland. The initial pathologist's report said he had been strangled but police have now announced that new evidence has contradicted their previous assertion.

Deputy police commissioner Mark Shield said at a press conference: "From all the work we have done and the opinion of the three pathologists, Bob Woolmer died of natural causes."

The announcement that Woolmer had been strangled sparked a number of conspiracy theories and overshadowed the tournament. The entire Pakistan squad was questioned in relation to the death and there have been suggestions that the country's cricket authorities will consider legal action.

The police's handling of the case, particularly with regard to the number of theories that arose from it in the media, has attracted considerable criticism but Shields made a robust defence of his investigation.

He said: "We have conducted a thorough, professional investigation throughout. We said from the very beginning we would keep an open mind, we said we would search for the truth.

"Had we not gone elsewhere for assistance in terms of getting second, third and fourth opinions from pathologists and seeking a review at an early stage, we may be in a different position.

"I believe it is through the JCF [Jamaica Constabulary Force] conducting such a thorough investigation that we are in a position to give you the facts as they are.

"We were given facts or an opinion at the beginning which we took at face value. We had to conduct an investigation - there is no alternative.

"We are not in a position where we can second guess, publicly, a pathologist's opinion. Our job is to keep an open mind, conduct the investigation and see where the evidence takes us, and as it developed, that's exactly what we did."