Squad that has solved some of UK’s worst crimes

Killers put behind bars by West Yorkshire Police’s Homicide and Major Enquiry Team (HMET) include Ronald Castree, jailed for life in 2007 for the murder of 11-year-old Lesley Molseed, whose body was found on moorland near Ripponden in 1975.

The squad also caught “Crossbow Cannibal” Stephen Griffiths, a PhD student who murdered three sex workers in Bradford, and found abducted Dewsbury schoolgirl Shannon Matthews after a search which lasted more than three weeks.

Between April and September this year, HMET dealt with 19 killings, seven attempted murders and eight kidnappings.

The department was also involved in investigating 30 allegations of rape by a stranger.

HMET is one of many police departments in the region to have seen their resources cut as the Home Office has slashed force budgets.

It has lost almost 40 officers and staff within two years and its number of detective superintendent senior investigating officers has fallen from eight to three.

The department’s six detective teams have shrunk as its budget was cut from £12.5m in 2009-10 to less than £12m this year.

West Yorkshire Chief Constable Sir Norman Bettison has said that the number of senior detectives available to deal with complex cases “cannot be stretched any further”.

The Yorkshire Post revealed last month that police chiefs in West and North Yorkshire had discussed creating a single detective squad to cover both counties.

The joint unit, which would investigate murders, rapes and other serious crimes, has been proposed as the two police forces face a combined budget deficit of £125m over the next four years.

It could follow an example set by police in Surrey and Sussex, where a combined major crime team was formed earlier this year in a move aimed at saving millions of pounds.

Senior officers said the talks were at a very early stage and it could be years before any merging of resources is agreed.