logo
Man arrested on suspicion of murdering pregnant woman

Man arrested on suspicion of murdering pregnant woman

Telegraph2 days ago
A 28-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a pregnant woman was found dead in Northern Ireland.
Sarah Montgomery, 27, a mother of two, was found unconscious and seriously injured at a property in Donaghadee, County Down, on Saturday afternoon.
Paramedics treated her for her injuries but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The arrested man remains in custody.
Det Ch Insp Tom Phillips, of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, said: 'Inquiries are at an early stage into this deeply tragic case.'
He added: 'Sarah's family are being supported by specially trained officers as the investigation continues.'
Ch Insp Yvonne McManus said: 'Local people will see our officers in and around the area, with cordons still in place today.
She added: 'We recognise the profound impact that violence against women and girls has on individuals, families and wider society.
'Addressing this issue remains a key priority, and we are committed to engaging directly with the local community to offer support, build trust and help people feel safe.'
Alex Easton, the North Down MP, described the incident as 'appalling' and said there is a deep sense of shock within the community.
Cllr Hannah Irwin said: 'Unfortunately, Sarah isn't the first woman to pass away in Donaghadee in the past year, or in Northern Ireland.
'I've almost lost count on how many women have passed away in tragic circumstances since 2020.'
Stephen Dunne, a North Down assembly member, said he is 'deeply shocked and saddened by the devastating news'.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Grandmother denies assaulting toddler who died after head injury
Grandmother denies assaulting toddler who died after head injury

BreakingNews.ie

time19 minutes ago

  • BreakingNews.ie

Grandmother denies assaulting toddler who died after head injury

A grandmother accused of the murder of a two-year-old has denied assaulting the child. Kerry Ives, 46, and her husband Michael Ives, 47, are alleged to have been in the living room of their home in Flintshire, North Wales, with grandson Ethan Ives-Griffiths on August 14th, 2021 when he suffered a 'catastrophic' head injury, leading to his death two days later. Advertisement Giving evidence at Mold Crown Court on Wednesday, she was asked by Owen Edwards KC, defending: 'Did you assault Ethan on August 14th?' She replied: 'No.' Ives also denied seeing, helping with or encouraging an assault on that date. The grandmother, who wiped her eyes with a tissue at points during her evidence, described Ethan as a 'bubbly little child' and said he came to stay at their home in Garden City from about June 24th, 2021 for a few weeks, before going back to his mother – her daughter, Shannon Ives. Advertisement Shannon and Ethan then both came to stay at the house from July 16th until his death, the court heard. Asked how her daughter behaved towards Ethan, she said: 'She used to smack him, up the head.' After Mr Edwards asked in what circumstances that would happen, Ives said: 'He'd probably pissed her off, just by laughing at her if she told him off.' She said on August 14th she noticed a red mark on Ethan's face after he had been in the bedroom with his mother. Advertisement Ives said she did not see Shannon hit Ethan that day, but was later reminded of her defence statement in which she said she saw Shannon strike her son to his head as they walked to the living room. She told the court she was in the living room with her husband that evening, while Shannon was upstairs, when she turned and saw Michael Ives catching Ethan. Ives said: 'Michael picked him back up and then he did it again so Michael lay him on the carpet.' Asked how it looked, she said: 'It was horrible.' Advertisement She said she shouted for Shannon, who came down from upstairs and later called her other daughter, Nicole, over Facetime, the court heard. The accused said: 'Nicole had gone through something similar with her son. I just needed some advice for what to do.' She then rang an ambulance, but the court heard the time between Kerry Ives shouting for her daughter to come downstairs and phoning emergency services was 18 minutes. Ives said: 'I was panicking. I didn't know what was going on.' Advertisement Kerry Ives, originally from Wolverhampton, accepted the way her husband carried Ethan, by his arm, in CCTV footage from August 4th, 2021, was 'cruel'. She said: 'It wasn't nice.' Ives said at the time she did not see her husband holding Ethan in that way and denied the footage showed her watching as Ethan was carried from a trampoline in the back garden. She said: 'I was just staring, that's what I usually do, just stare and glaze.' Asked what she would have done if she had seen her husband carrying the toddler like that, she said: 'I'd have told him to pack it in.' She accepted she did see him lift Ethan over a railing by his arm in later footage which was shown to the court. Gordon Cole KC, defending Shannon Ives, said: 'Do you regret how Michael treated Ethan?' She said: 'Yes.' When Mr Cole asked why she had not initially told the jury she had seen her husband carry Ethan like that, she said: 'I can't answer.' She added: 'I'm not protecting him.' Michael and Kerry Ives, of Kingsley Road, Garden City, deny murder, an alternative count of causing or allowing the death of a child, and cruelty to a person under 16. Shannon Ives, of Nant Garmon, Mold, denies causing or allowing the death of a child and cruelty to a person under 16.

Lenny Scott: Men accused of prison officer's murder pictured at Glastonbury
Lenny Scott: Men accused of prison officer's murder pictured at Glastonbury

BBC News

time26 minutes ago

  • BBC News

Lenny Scott: Men accused of prison officer's murder pictured at Glastonbury

Two men accused of murdering a prison officer in a "revenge plot" were pictured together at Glastonbury festival, a court has Scott, 33, was shot six times with a handgun in the car park of a gym in Skelmersdale, Lancashire, on 8 February Morgan, 35, and co-defendant Anthony Cleary, 29, who are both from the Edge Hill area of Liverpool, have denied Mr Scott's murder, while Mr Cleary also denies an alternative count of prosecution allege his murder was an "act of retaliation" after Mr Scott seized a mobile phone from Mr Morgan's cell at HMP Altcourse in Liverpool in March 2020. Jurors at Preston Crown Court have heard a gunman, wearing a high-visibility jacket, approached Mr Scott outside the gym on Peel Road and shot him once in the head and five times in the body. The prosecution claim Mr Morgan, of Highgate Street, was the gunman and that he was supported by co-accused Mr Cleary, of Smithdown Lane, who allegedly left a van and electric bike for Mr Morgan near the jury has heard during the police investigation, officers found a number of pieces of evidence which shows the connection between the two men. One was a photograph recovered from Mr Cleary's mobile phone of the pair together at the Glastonbury festival together in June photograph showed the pair among throngs of festivalgoers, Mr Morgan pictured with his arm around Mr that year, on the 11 December, mobile phones used by Mr Morgan and Mr Cleary were using cell sites in southern Spain, the court heard. Also recorded in Spain on the same day was a Mercedes vehicle which was used by Mr Morgan, the court vehicle was driven back through Europe and into the UK, arriving back on 13 December by Mr Cleary, the court has Morgan flew back to the UK, taking a flight first to Ireland and then on into the UK, jurors were trial continues. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.

Barry Morphew beams in court as he's charged with murdering wife Suzanne - but 'loyal' daughter delivered nasty shock
Barry Morphew beams in court as he's charged with murdering wife Suzanne - but 'loyal' daughter delivered nasty shock

Daily Mail​

timean hour ago

  • Daily Mail​

Barry Morphew beams in court as he's charged with murdering wife Suzanne - but 'loyal' daughter delivered nasty shock

A wealthy landscaper charged with murdering his wife grinned from ear to ear as he appeared in court. Barry Morphew, 57, was all smiles at the sight of one of his two daughters as he was brought into court in Alamoso County Court in Colorado Tuesday evening to face charges of murdering his spouse Suzanne in nearby Salida in May 2020. Morphew has two daughters - Mallory and Macy. It is unclear which of the two was in court to support their father yesterday, Denver7 reported. The two young women stood loyally by their dad's side after he was previously charged with 43 year-old Suzanne's murder in 2021. But the absence of one of the Morphew daughters in court could suggest that she no longer believes her father's protestations of innocence. Morphew was re-arrested in Arizona on June 20 after prosecutors produced dramatic new 'smoking gun' evidence. Tuesday's court appearance was a brief procedural affair. Morphew was ordered held in custody in lieu of $3 million bond and is due back in court in September for a bail hearing. It comes as an indictment seen by revealed that Suzanne died with the presence of a powerful animal tranquilizer called butorphanol-azaperone-medetomidine (BAM) in her body. With a theatrical flourish, the charging document revealed that only one private citizen in the entire state of Colorado had a prescription for BAM at the time of Suzanne's disappearance: Barry Morphew. A tranquilizer needle cap, darts and a tranquillizer gun were found in the couple's home during a law enforcement search conducted shortly after Suzanne vanished. Barry used BAM to hunt deer while in the couple's native Indiana. They moved to Colorado from the Hoosier State in 2018 and were having severe marital difficulties at the time of Suzanne's disappearance. Suzanne had been having an affair with an old school friend called Jeff Libler. Morphew and Suzanne lived in a stunning $1.5m cabin with daughter Macy, who was away from home on a planned multi-day road trip when Suzanne disappeared. Cops allege Barry took advantage of Macy's disappearance to kill Suzanne on the morning of May 9 2020, the day before her disappearance was reported. Barry was first charged with murdering his wife in 2021, in the absence of his wife's body. But the case collapsed amid prosecutorial misconduct. Mallory and Macy Morphew both stood by their father at the time and were photographed walking with him arm-in-arm. A new team of prosecutors began probing Barry again after Suzanne's body was discovered dumped along the side of a rural road in Saguache County, Colorado in September 2023 in a patch of wasteland known as 'The Boneyard.' That is about an hour's drive south of the Morphew residence. More new evidence revealed in the June 20 charging document said that Suzanne did not die where her body was found. Forensic experts said the lack of animal activity on Suzanne's body combined with the lack of decomposure of the cycling clothes she was wearing mean 'it was unlikely Suzanne decomposed from a fresh body to a skeleton at this location.' The charging document did not offer any further theories or evidence as to where investigators believe Suzanne was killed or where her body was initially concealed. No cause of death has been given because of how badly Suzanne had decomposed, but a coroner's report said she'd died with the BAM tranquilizer in her system. Suzanne was reported missing by her neighbor on Mother's Day 2020 after Mallory and Macy were unable to reach her on the phone. Her last communication with a friend was on May 9, the day investigators believe Barry killed her. Barry and Suzanne were alone at their home at the time of the disappearance. On May 6, Suzanne texted Barry saying: 'I'm done. I could (sic) care less what you're up to and have been for years. We just need to figure this out civilly.' Barry claimed he left home early on the morning of May 10 to go to work in the Colorado city of Broomfield, three hours from their home. He said that Suzanne was asleep in their bed, having told him she was planning a bike ride for her day. Investigators insist Suzanne had already been dead for hours at that point. Barry's phone entered and exited airplane mode several times over the next 24 hours, authorities said. The door of his truck was opened numerous times between 3.25am and 5am and was backed up into the home's garage at least once. Barry's activity in Broomfield aroused further suspicion. He claimed to have been on a landscaping job but spent a total of just 90 minutes on site and the rest in a cheap hotel room that cleaners reported stank of chlorine after he checked out. Barry was captured on surveillance making several trash runs at numerous locations around town, but appeared to be doing little work, police noted. Suzanne's disappearance was reported to police on the evening of May 10 - Mothering Sunday - after Macy and Mallory said they had been unable to contact their mother. Barry asked a neighbor to check on the house and then asked them to call the sheriff when the neighbor saw no trace of Suzanne. During a subsequent police interview, Barry claimed the couple's marriage was 'the best' and that they'd just had a 'wonderful weekend together.' But that lie was exposed as investigators learned of Suzanne's affair and Barry's alleged violent threats towards her. After cops began to search the property, they found Suzanne's bike abandoned down a steep embankment close to the family home. Police believe that scene was staged. Her helmet was discovered days later, roughly a mile away, at the side of a highway. The disappearance of an attractive, wealthy mother soon sparked a nationwide media frenzy. A tearful Barry even released a brief video appeal to the public asking for information. 'Suzanne, if anyone is out there that can hear this that has you, please, we'll do whatever it takes to bring you back,' Barry said. Meanwhile, a huge manhunt was launched, with authorities scouring rural terrain, diving in lakes, and deploying K9 units to find Suzanne - but there was no trace. When Barry was questioned by police two days after Suzanne disappeared, officers noted he had scratches on his hands and arms. A search of the Morphew home found a live .22 caliber bullet by Suzanne's bed, and a needle cap from a tranquilizer dart was found in the dryer, tangled up among washed bed sheets. Investigators also recovered empty tranquilizer darts, a needle used to inject tranquilizer chemicals into the darts, and a dart gun. Barry Morphew admitted to using a tranquilizer gun to shoot deer so he could harvest their horns, but said he was unsure how the cap got in the dryer, court records show. Barry, who rented a scruffy trailer park in Cave Creek, will now be extradited to the San Luis Valley in Colorado to face charges. His 'Stardust Trailer Park' billed itself a 'boutique community' offering short and long-term rentals, but had a dilapidated and depressing air when visited by in 2024. His daughters have yet to comment on the charges brought against their father. Suzanne's loved ones including her sister Melinda had previously condemned Barry over his alleged treatment of his wife and claimed Suzanne had feared for her safety. A friend called Sheila Oliver claimed Suzanne had complained of Barry shoving her into a closet and putting a gun to his head while screaming: 'Is this what you want?'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store