
Police launch murder probe after death of woman in north Belfast
The woman, aged in her 60s, was pronounced dead at a house in the Shore Road area in the early hours of Tuesday.
Advertisement
A man, aged in his 30s, has been arrested on suspicion of murder.
Detectives from the Police Service of Northern Ireland's Major Investigation Team have launched a murder investigation following the death of a woman in a house in the Shore Road area of north Belfast:
https://t.co/qY5xgf0urV
pic.twitter.com/X68pbRFVQs
— Police North Belfast (@PSNIBelfastN)
June 3, 2025
A police spokesperson said officers, along with the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, responded to a report received just before midnight.
'Sadly, a woman, aged in her 60s, was pronounced dead at the scene in the early hours of this morning, Tuesday June 3,' they said.
'A man, aged in his 30s, was arrested on suspicion of murder, and remains in police custody at this time.'
Advertisement
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


BBC News
44 minutes ago
- BBC News
Mobile phones: Children under-14 advised against smartphones
Parents of thousands of children have been asked not to give them a smartphone until at least 14-years-old amid fears some were using devices for eight hours a dayMany schools have already banned smartphones on site but one part of the UK thinks it will be the first to have a countywide policy advising parents against giving children smartphones at mobiles is already banned in schools in Monmouthshire, south Wales, but due to a rise in cyber-bullying reports and fears phone use at home is affecting schoolwork, schools are going a step further."We've got reports of students who are online at two, three, four in the morning," said headteacher Hugo Hutchinson. "We get a lot of wellbeing issues, as do all schools, that come from social media activity online over the weekend, or when they should be asleep," added the head of Monmouth Hutchinson said schools had worked on "robust" phone policies but pointed out ultimately children's time was largely spent outside of school, where many still had unrestricted access to teachers in Monmouthshire acknowledge they can't force parents not to give smartphones to their under-14 children, schools have taken a "big step" to give advice about what parent should do in their own in some areas of the UK have already asked parents not to get their under-14s smartphones - like in St Albans, Belfast and Solihull in the West Midlands. 'I was worried my son would feel left out' But Monmouthshire believe they're the first county in the UK where all secondary and primary teachers in both state and private schools are advising against smartphones for more than 9,000 children under the age of of those parents being advised not to give their children a smartphone is Emma who said she felt like "the worst parent in the world" after continuously telling her 12-year-old son Monty he wasn't allowed one."He was feeling left out," she said. "He would be sitting on the school bus without a phone and everybody else would be doing the journey with a phone. He found that quite difficult. I think for boys it's more about games on the phone."The mum-of-three is worried what her son could be exposed to online and how "addictive" devices were but offered Monty a "brick phone" – a term to describe older models that can't connect to the internet and is only capable of calls and the thought of giving Monty a smartphone when he reached secondary school had become one of her "biggest fears", she and other parents said they were relieved schools are taking ownership. Schools hope the intervention of teachers would help those parents that were worried saying no to a smartphone would mean their child was "left out".But other some argued their children had been using smartphones without any Dorkings' son, who is moving up to secondary school in September, had his own smartphone when he was eight-years-old."He's always sort of been on one," he said. "It's like a calming thing, or [something to use] out of boredom. He's not on it that much, he's more of a TV boy. He doesn't pull it out his pocket every five minutes, he can put it down and just leave it."Nicholas said he could understand why schools wanted to get involved, but he believed smartphones had become essential to how young people Lili's primary school class is one of the first to be targeted by the new policy, after teachers wrote to their parents urging them to consider "brick phones" - if they felt their child needed something for travelling to school. 'Most kids around here have smartphones' Lili said she felt "14 to 15" was about the right age for children to get their first smartphone as by then they might stand a better chance of knowing if something they read online "wasn't true"."We found out that one in four children have been cyber-bullied within our school, which is really strange," said the year six pupil. "It shouldn't be right, there shouldn't be the chance for people to be cyber-bullied, because we're really young."Lili's classmate Morgan said she had got a smartphone but had decided to stop using it after learning more about them in school."Most kids around here have smartphones," said the 11-year-old. "They are just 100% always on it. When kids come over to play at some households they just go on their smartphones and just text.""I used to go on it to just scroll but I got bored - but then I'd also get bored not being on my smartphone. I just decided to stop scrolling to read a book or the trampoline." Are mobile phones being banned in UK schools? Schools in Northern Ireland are advised to restrict pupils from using phones, in Scotland teachers are backed to introduce phone bans while in Wales, headteachers have been told smartphones shouldn't be banned "outright".In England, the children's commissioner has said banning phones should be a decision for head teachers but insisted parents had "the real power" to alter how their children used phones with more time spent on them outside of now every parent of all of Monmouthshire's state and private schools will be told about the county's new smartphone over the coming months. 'People have an addiction to smartphones' "This is not a school issue. This is a whole community and society issue," added Mr Hutchinson, whose comprehensive school in Monmouth has 1,700 pupils. "Like all schools, we are experiencing much higher levels of mental health issues as a result. Addiction to smartphones, addiction to being online."We have students who on average are spending six, seven, eight hours a day online outside school. We've got reports of students who are online at two, three, four in the morning. "So the impact on their school day, the impact on their learning and the impact on their life chances is really fundamental." In a token of solidarity to their son Monty and to encourage their two younger daughters, Emma Manchand and her husband Kev offered give up their own smartphones."We do 24-hours without the phone, which has been quite a challenging," she said."Sometimes we might slightly fail. But the first time I did it, although I was nervous, I felt like I'd had a little mini break."The kids love it as well, because of course they get to be the ones telling us to put our phones down."


The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Officer who kicked man in the head during Manchester airport brawl says he acted ‘professionally'
THE police officer filmed kicking a man in the head during an airport brawl has told a court he acted 'professionally'. Firearms cop Zachary Marsden has admitted kicking Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, while he was on the ground, last July. 3 3 PC Marsden told a jury he was trying to arrest Amaaz for headbutting another man in a cafe at Manchester Airport. Marsden said he was aware of the "crowd dynamic' in the pay station area and wanted to remove Amaaz from the area in case of an adverse crowd reaction. He said: 'Based on my experience as a police off icer, affecting an arrest in a crowd can create its own crowd dynamic risk. "It would be better to remove him from the crowd. 'I did not want to operate within the crowd which could give them the opportunity to escalate the situation." The brawl, which also involved Amaaz's brother Muhammad Amaad, 26, and two other officers was filmed and went viral on the internet. Both brothers, from Rochdale, deny assault charges and claim they acted in self defence. Their lawyer Imran Khan KC told Liverpool crown court Amaaz saw PC Marsden aim his Taser at his brother and may have believed it was a gun. The trial continues. Moment man 'headbutted dad at Manchester airport before brawling with cops' 3


The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Post Office scandal may have led to more than 13 suicides, inquiry finds
More than 13 people may have killed themselves as a result of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal and it drove at least 59 more to contemplate suicide, according to the first findings from the public inquiry into what has been labelled the worst miscarriage of justice in UK history. The 162-page volume one report from Sir Wyn Williams, the retired judge who chaired the hearings, looks at the 'disastrous human impact' on thousands of post office operators wrongly held responsible for shortfalls in their branches caused by faulty software. It also covers the issue of compensation, arguing the Post Office and its advisers had in many cases adopted an 'unnecessarily adversarial attitude' to those seeking financial redress, who now number at least 10,000 – far higher than the more than 1,000 people prosecuted. Speaking after the report was published, Williams said evidence had revealed a 'profoundly disturbing' picture. While four suicides have been blamed on the scandal, Williams said at least 13 could be linked to it, and the total may be higher with some deaths unreported. A further 19 people began abusing alcohol, with some saying they could not sleep at night without drinking first. Of the 59 who had thoughts about killing themselves, 10 went on to attempt suicide, some on more than one occasion. Contemplating suicide 'was a common experience across both those who were and were not prosecuted', the report said. One post office operator said: 'The impact on me of the treatment the Post Office subjected me to has been immeasurable. The mental stress was so great for me that I had a mental breakdown and turned to alcohol as I sank further into depression. I attempted suicide on several occasions and was admitted to a mental health institution twice.' About 1,000 post office operators were prosecuted and convicted by the Post Office between 1999 and 2015, the report said, because of faulty Horizon accounting software that suggested they had committed fraud. A further 50 to 60 people, possibly more, were prosecuted but not convicted. The total wrongly held responsible for losses was in the thousands, with many making up the shortfall out of their pocket without ever being charged. Post Office bosses either knew, or should have known, that the IT system was faulty, the report said, but they 'maintained the fiction that its data was always accurate' when prosecuting branch owner-operators. Williams said he had received more than 200 witness statements from victims and almost all 'had suffered very significantly and many had endured a degree of hardship which was very severe by any standards'. Some became seriously ill, struggled with mental health problems, suffered financial hardship, lost their homes or went bankrupt. Even those who were acquitted often found themselves 'ostracised' in their communities, and many died before receiving compensation – reports have put the figure at about 350. Some family members also suffered psychiatric and other illnesses and 'very significant financial losses'. The report revealed about 10,000 people were claiming compensation through four schemes, two of which were merged in early June, and that number was likely to rise 'at least by hundreds, if not more' over the coming months. There were more than 3,000 claims still to resolve, half of which were in the initial stages, Williams said. In the report, he said: 'On too many occasions, the Post Office and its advisers have adopted an unnecessarily adversarial attitude towards making initial offers, which have had the effect of depressing the level at which settlements have been achieved.' Williams called for urgent action to deliver 'full and fair' compensation, asking the government and the Post Office to agree on a definition of the term to follow when deciding how much to offer. Williams said victims should receive free legal advice, funded by the government, to help them decide whether they should opt for the fixed-sum offer or assessment of their claims, and close family members of affected post office operators should also be compensated. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Williams said the government had until 10 October to respond, and asked that ministers, with the Post Office and the Japanese technology company Fujitsu, which developed the faulty software, outline a programme for restorative justice, such as counselling and bursaries for those affected, by the end of that month. He also called for the creation of a standing public body that could administer and deliver 'financial redress to persons who have been wronged by public bodies'. In response to the findings, the chair of the Post Office, Nigel Railton, made a 'clear and unequivocal apology to every single person affected by this scandal' on behalf of the company and admitted 'as an organisation we let them down'. He vowed to do 'everything in my power' to make sure that affected branch operators received the redress they were entitled to, as soon as possible. The report, which follows 225 days of inquiry hearings with 298 witnesses, did not detail the total compensation paid out so far. According to the government, more than £1bn had been paid out to more than 7,300 post office operators by 9 June. No date has yet been set for the publication of volume two of Williams's findings, which will cover the technical issues with the Horizon IT system, the Post Office's handling of the reported discrepancies, legal proceedings against post office operators, institutional culture and government oversight. It could come as late as next year. Williams's report contained 17 case illustrations, including that of Millie Castleton, who was eight when the Post Office alleged that her father, Lee Castleton, was liable for shortfalls at his branch and his contract was terminated. He was later ordered to pay the Post Office £25,858.95 plus interest and their legal costs, a total sum of £309,807.94. Millie recounted that she became the target of bullying at school, where she was asked: 'Didn't your dad steal loads of money or something?' At 17, she was suffering from depression and was diagnosed with anorexia, and was forced by illness to 'take a year out' at university. At one point she was admitted to hospital with heart-related problems. 'That nagging voice in my head … still tells me that my past and my family's struggle will define me,' Millie said. 'I'm 26 and … I'm still fighting, as are many hundreds involved in the Post Office trial.' The scandal was exposed after years of campaigning and media investigations but was brought to the attention of many people by the ITV dramatisation Mr Bates vs the Post Office. Days after the series aired in January last year, the government announced plans to legislate to exonerate those who had been wrongly prosecuted, and the bill was passed in June. The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said in her debut budget last October that the government had set aside £1.8bn to cover all compensation claims. The government is the sole shareholder of the Post Office and is therefore responsible for paying out. Compensation payments have so far ranged from £10,000 to more than £1m. The postal minister, Gareth Thomas, said: 'Sir Wyn's … recommendations are immensely helpful as a guide for what is needed to finish the job, and we will respond in full to parliament after carefully considering them.' In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@ or jo@ In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counsellor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at