Until the examination of the fragment, which is not an entire skull, is completed in the UK, police have said that they will not know if it is relevant to their inquiry into child abuse at the former care home.
Deputy police chief Lenny Harper told the JEP that it was not possible to say whether the skull fragment was from recent times or from before the 1950s, the period to which the inquiry dates back.
Asked if the fragment could turn out to be a red herring, Mr Harper acknowledged that could be the case.
‘It could be a red herring – we just don’t know yet. But if it is, we will not have wasted much time during the inquiry on the item, as it has been bagged, sealed and sent to the UK for forensic examination,’ he said.
