The ensuing police investigation was led by Detective Chief Superintendent George Oldfield. This investigation would prove to be rushed, careless and ultimately forged, but culminated in Ward claiming culpability for the M62 coach bombing and two separate, non-fatal explosions. Initially, Ward was questioned by two members of the Metropolitan Police Service at Wakefield's Police Training College. The conclusion of the Detective Inspector and Detective Constable following the first of their three interviews with Ward on 16 February was that she held "poor knowledge" of the construction of explosive devices and, although discrepancies were noted between the various oral statements Ward made and earlier statements she and others had provided to investigators, by 7:45 p.m., Ward had provided a written confession claiming culpability for the M62 coach bombing. She would initially be charged with conspiracy to cause an explosion on the M62 motorway on 18 February.