Leanne murder trial date fixed
ATRIAL date has been set for a police sergeant accused of murdering his wife, who was a detective in the same force.
Father-of-three Darren McKie will go before a jury on March 5 next year accused of the murder of Leanne McKie, 39, who worked in the serious sexual offences unit at Greater Manchester Police (GMP).
The 43-year-old, who did not enter a plea, made a brief appearance at Chester Crown Court via video-link from HMP Altcourse in Liverpool. A scheduled bail applica- tion was not made by his lawyer and the 15-minute hearing dealt with pretrial procedural matters which cannot be reported.
McKie, wearing a grey sweatshirt, spoke only to confirm his name and that he could hear proceedings via the link to the courtroom.
Judge Roger Dutton, remanding the defendant in custody, told him: “Your case comes for trial provisionally on the 5th of March, either here at Chester or at Liverpool.
“You are remanded in custody from this date. You will next appear at a pre-trial preliminary hearing but the date for that has not been allocated yet.”
Mrs McKie was found dead in a lake in Poynton Park in the early hours of Friday, September 29. Her husband was arrested shortly afterwards and charged with her murder at their home in Wilmslow, Cheshire.
Police have said they want to speak to a group of four people who walked past the lake off London Road North, Poynton, in the direction of Stockport at 12.15am on that Friday.
Detectives said they were keen to hear from anyone who was in the area around Poynton Park between 11.30pm on September 28 and 3.30am the following day, and who may have witnessed anything suspicious or unusual.
They also reiterated their appeal to anyone who believes they may have seen Mrs McKie’s red Mini, registration number DA12 DFO, in the afternoon of September 28 and into the early hours of September 29 to come forward.
Anyone with any information should contact Cheshire Police on 101 quoting 93 of 29/9/2017.
Information can also be reported anonymously, via Crimestoppers, on 0800 555 111.
Members of the public with any dashcam or video footage can upload it on the Cheshire Police website at www.cheshire. police.uk.