Former RUC man on murder charge

A former RUC inspector will appear before magistrates today charged with murdering an 80-year-old woman in Northern Ireland in…

A former RUC inspector will appear before magistrates today charged with murdering an 80-year-old woman in Northern Ireland in the late eighties.

The 58-year-old  security guard is accused of strangling Annabella Symington in her South Belfast home on Halloween night in 1989.

He was arrested at the university campus on Tuesday.

Ms Symington’s body was discovered in her home at Willesden Park in the affluent Stranmillis area by a neighbour.

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Part of her cardigan had been stuffed into her mouth and she had cuts and bruises to her head.

There was no sign of forced entry and two used teacups were found in the living room, prompting speculation that she may have known her killer.

The man left the Royal Ulster Constabulary in the late 1990s. He had been an inspector based at Musgrave Street station in central Belfast. He is due to appear in Belfast Magistrates’ Court this morning.