Daily Mail

Mother stabbed to death in ‘ botched robbery’

- By Inderdeep Bains

a Mother has been found stabbed to death in a ‘botched robbery’ at her £400,000 home.

the woman, named locally as Catherine Burke, 55, was found by police after neighbours became concerned she had not been seen for several days.

she was allegedly found ‘bound and gagged’, suggesting she may have been the victim of a robbery gone wrong.

police said they were keeping an ‘open mind’ as they launched a murder investigat­ion after a post-mortem examinatio­n revealed a provisiona­l cause of death as ‘stab injuries’.

Miss Burke, a retired council worker, had been living alone in her four-bedroom terraced property in Muswell hill, north London, after her son nial moved out to go to Brighton university.

neighbours said nial was traumatise­d by his mother’s horrific death and had phoned them to ask them to do everything they could to help the police.

neighbours said they initially thought the ‘lovely and funny’ woman had been sleeping off a bug because she had recently been sick. But after growing concerned and trying to look into the house with a ladder, they called the police and her body was discovered on thursday evening.

James McDermott, 60, said: ‘she hadn’t been seen with the dog in a while so a few of us were worried. someone got a ladder to find try and see inside but couldn’t see anything.

‘so we called the police and they found her. the whole street is very nervous and on edge. there’s been a few burglaries here recently.’

he added: ‘she was such a lovely person, such a character, so funny... she was always smiling, she had such a wonderful laugh.’

Lesley gregory, 62, a friend of Miss Burke for ten years, said: ‘her son rang me last night and said, “please help the police with all their enquiries, it’s my mum”.

‘she would do anything for anyone… and give her last pound to help people.’

Fenelle archer Wright, 50, added: ‘her son was just in shock – he couldn’t speak.

‘I just feel physically sick that someone could do that to her. It’s just unspeakabl­e what’s happened. We all love her in the street.’

the Metropolit­an police said detectives were keeping an ‘open mind’ as to any motive and no arrests had been made.

‘Her son was in shock – he couldn’t speak’

 ??  ?? ‘Bound and gagged’: Catherine Burke
‘Bound and gagged’: Catherine Burke

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