Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Dau g hter ‘killed dad & claimed his p ension’
Woman, 63, appears in court for murder
A WOMAN has appeared in court charged with murdering her father 12 years ago and burying his body in the back garden of their home.
Barbara Coombes, 63, is accused of killing Kenneth Coombes, believed to be her dad, as well as preventing his lawful and decent burial.
She is also accused of trying to claim his pension for 11 years.
White-haired Coombes made a threeminute appearance at Manchester and Salford magistrates court yesterday, having walked into a police station on Sunday to confess to the killing.
Wearing black glasses and a brown jumper, she smiled as she arrived in court, but spoke only to confirm her name, address and date of birth.
The mum-of-one is also accused of deception by making a false representa- tion that she was a carer for Kenneth. District judge David Scanlon remanded Coombes, of Reddish, Stockport, Greater Manchester in custody to appear at Manchester crown court today. Since Sunday, officers have dug up her back garden and found human remains.
The results of a Home Office postmortem to establish cause of death have not been disclosed. Officers have gone door-to-door in the area handing out a questionnaire to neighbours to say they are investigating the death of Kenneth, stating he would have been in his late 80s in 2005.
Coombes’ ex-husband, Bill, 63, has revealed she was suffering from stomach cancer. Other relatives described former soldier Kenneth, who served as a bombardier in the Royal Regiment of Artillery in the Second World War, as “difficult”.
He had originally lived with his wife Mary, two sons and daughter Barbara at the semi-detached house.
But his wife is understood to have left him, taking the boys with her, and she died in the 70s not long after they split.
Barbara Coombes is thought to have moved back in with her father after she split from her husband.