A man is due in court charged in connection with the murder of Mary Ward in Belfast.
The 26-year-old man was arrested in Dublin on Wednesday on suspicion of murdering the young mother at her home in Belfast.
22-year-old Mary Ward was found dead at her home on Melrose Street on Tuesday, October 1st.
Police launched a murder investigation into her death nearly one week later – and have also referred the case to Northern Ireland’s Police Ombudsman due to officers’ previous engagements with Mary.
The man arrested in Dublin is now due to appear before the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin at 10.30am this this morning.
Timeline
Earlier this week, police released a timeline of their engagements with Ms Ward in the days and weeks before her death.
PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Davy Beck said police first interacted with Mary on September 4th when she informed them that she had been assaulted.
Police responded within minutes and a suspect was arrested.
He said Mary called police again on September 10th and officers called in to speak to her on September 24th and spoke to her by phone on September 25th.
Police eventually found her body on October 1st when they called to her home over a “totally unconnected” matter and saw a woman crouched over against the upstairs front window of the house.
Death
Police now believe she was killed on or around September 25th – the day she spoke to officers by phone.
Mary is the fourth woman to be murdered in the North in the last six weeks.
