Serbian suspect held over killing of Rolls-Royce designer

A picture of the suspect before the attack was released by German police

A 22-year old Serbian man has been arrested in France a week after the fatal stabbing in Germany of a 74-year-old man, named locally as former Rolls-Royce car designer Ian Cameron.

Bavarian police said that after a public manhunt the suspect had been located in a flat to the north-east of Paris and arrested by French special forces on Thursday.

Ian Cameron, 74, was reportedly attacked last Friday night at his home in Herrsching, south-west of Munich. His wife fled to a neighbour's house and raised the alarm.

Police later released an image of the suspect taken in a local supermarket before the killing. They said the man had been in the Herrsching area for several hours.

Ian Cameron moved to the lakeside village of Herrsching 11 years ago. Former Rolls-Royce colleagues have said they are deeply shocked by what happened.

Police have not publicly named him as the victim and have not suggested why he might have been targeted.

After police found his body they searched neighbouring gardens and roads close to the east bank of Lake Ammer with a helicopter and police dogs.

The suspect is thought to have escaped on foot and police warned the public not to approach him themselves. A red backpack was later found next to the lake and other objects were found during a search of woodland close to the victim's house.

Images of the outside of the victim's house indicated that a cable powering an outdoor security camera had been cut.

Ian Cameron was head of design at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars until 2012

In a statement on Friday Bavarian police said that after a week-long manhunt a suspect had been detained.

They said the man had escaped to Munich and then travelled to Innsbruck in Austria and through Zurich to France.

The Serbian suspect was alone in an apartment near Paris when he was detained by French special forces and offered no resistance, they added. He is due to appear before an investigating magistrate in France on Friday.

The chief executive of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Chris Brownridge, said this week that his thoughts were with Ian Cameron's family and friends.

"[Ian Cameron] led the design team for all Phantom family and Ghost models, creating thoroughly contemporary motor cars that remained sympathetic to the marque’s design," he said.