Parents of student, 20, found dead in French villa pool plead for help from British police after 'lacklustre' local probe left 'unanswered questions'

The parents of a student who died in a swimming pool in France have urged British police to investigate.Holly Woodcock's family have been advised they can ask UK detectives to intervene.Now Holly's parents Lee and Jo have spoken to the Met Police – and their MP has written to Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley.They're hoping a fresh probe will help them get answers to questions surrounding 20-year-old Holly's death in August 2024, and address their concerns at the 'lacklustre' French police investigation.Holly died during a holiday at a friend's family home in St Hilaire-la-Foret in France, but no emergency call was made for 14 minutes, several witnesses were not interviewed by local police and they destroyed forensic samples and the student's swimming costume, according to a report by the couple's French lawyers.Lee and Jo said: 'We've tried getting the Foreign Office to take action.'For the last two years we have engaged and pleaded with the Foreign Office to support our family with no success.'Nothing has really happened and we have not had any correspondence from the foreign minister since April. Holly Woodcock, 20, (pictured) mysteriously drowned on holiday while at a friend's French villa in August 2024 Holly's mother Joanna and father Lee are appealing to the British Government to help get French police to reopen their case'So we were advised that we could report our concerns to the British police and ask them to investigate.'We have spoken to a Met Police officer and he assured us that a senior detective will now assess the next steps to be taken and be in touch in the coming weeks.'As things stand we haven't heard from them but our MP has told us he's written to the Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley.'We hope that a British police intervention - with substantive support from the Foreign Office - will prompt their French counterparts to conduct a much fuller investigation into Holly's death.'We feel we can't just accept what's happened as there are too many unanswered questions.'University student Holly's body was not repatriated which meant no inquest was opened in the UK.A French post-mortem found Holly had drowned but did not determine the exact cause of death, while a report from a French medical examiner stated a traumatic cause of death could not be ruled out.Despite this, local police closed the investigation after a brief interview with only some of those present at the French property, and a post-mortem.Premature destruction of samples meant key tests to confirm how much Holly had drunk could not be corroborated, said a report by their French lawyers. Holly, who was studying English and Multimedia Journalism at Manchester Met University, pictured with her mother Jo Key evidence, such as DNA samples that could have ruled out a medical incident and her swimming costume, were destroyedPhones were not checked, and CCTV was never sought, it added.The family's MP Daniel Francis raised their plight in the House of Commons in June, and is still supporting their campaign.He said: 'I have the same concerns as the family regarding some aspects of the investigation into Holly's death in France and clearly they still do not have the answers they deserve.'If this was your child you would not expect to have the issues, such as evidence being destroyed, discrepancies with timelines and DNA samples being destroyed.'There are a number of issues in the investigation and if I were Mr and Mrs Woodcock I would be asking the same questions and these are questions they need answers to.'He confirmed he has written to Sir Mark Rowley and is awaiting a response.The Met said an officer had spoken to Jo and Lee and he submitted a report on August 25.They said it was reviewed by the relevant teams within the Met but following their assessment, it was decided there were no further actions available to them. The Woodcocks want to believe there was no foul play involved in Holly's death but insist more investigations are needed to be sure. Pictured: Holly with a puppy Jo and Lee say this has not been communicated to them at this stage.However, since then their MP's letter has been sent to the Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley.It is understood the letter has been received by Sir Mark and passed on to the relevant officers for consideration.