A 53-year-old man has been in court in Belfast accused of murdering his fiancee on the day they were due to be married.
Paul Stockman (above), from Elm Court in the Donegall Pass area of south Belfast, was charged with murdering Patricia Bardon last Monday, which was her 51st birthday.
A detective told the Magistrates’ Court he believed he could connect Mr Stockman to the charge and objected to him being released on bail.
Defence solicitor Patrick Kelly intervened to say that an application for bail was not being made at present.
“The reason, quite frankly, is that the address at which the defendant and the deceased resided is now a crime scene and there is no suitable alternative address,” said Mr Kelly.
The investigating detective said in reply to questions from Mr Kelly that he could confirm the couple had been in a relationship for five years and at the time of Ms Bardon’s death they were living together.
The detective also confirmed that in the course of police interviews Mr Stockman had not made any written admissions. Asked if both the victim and the defendant had a dependency on alcohol, he replied: “Yes.”
Judge Harry McKibbin remanded Mr Stockman in custody to appear again by video link on September 24th.