Woman in court on murder charge

A WOMAN has appeared in court charged with the murder of a man believed to be her elderly father more than a decade ago.

Barbara Coombes, 63, of Matlock Road in Reddish, Stockport, was remanded in custody after a hearing lasting a matter of minutes at Manchester magistrates court yesterday. No pleas were entered. She was due to appear before a judge at Manchester Crown Court today.

Mrs Coombes is charged with the murder of Kenneth Coombes in Stockport on January 8, 2006.

She is also charged with preventing the lawful and decent burial of his body.

The charge alleges that Mrs Coombes ‘without lawful excuse prevented the lawful and decent burial of the dead body of Kenneth Coombes’ between January 7, 2006, and January 10, 2018.

She is also charged with one count of fraud by false representation between January 15, 2007, and January 10, 2018, namely that she dishonestly made a false representation by sending official letters in the name of Kenneth Coombes intending to make a gain, claiming monies not belonging to her, for her own use.

She also faces a charge of obtaining pecuniary advantage by deception.

The charge alleges that Mrs Coombes was ‘given the opportunity to earn remuneration or greater remuneration in an office or employment by deception, namely by falsely representing that you were a carer for Kenneth Coombes.’

Human remains were found in the back garden of a home on Tuesday after a search operation was launched by police.

Mrs Coombes, who has wavy, shoulder-length white hair, entered the dock in courtroom 16 flanked by two security guards.

She was wearing black glasses, a grey jumper and a black T-shirt.

She spoke only to confirm her name, address and date of birth – and to confirm her nationality as ‘English.’