Woman in court over great-grandmother stabbing death

A woman was remanded in custody when she appeared in court today in connection with the murder of an 88-year-old great-grandmother who was beaten and stabbed to death in her flat.

Irene Barrett was found dead at her home in Charlton, south east London, on Saturday morning.

She had been beaten and stabbed to death in what detectives believe was a botched burglary.

A court spokeswoman said Victoria Cordice, 30, of Little Heath, Charlton, appeared via video link at Camberwell Green Magistrates' Court charged with perverting the course of justice and assisting an offender.

She will appear at the Old Bailey on August 25.

Yesterday Daniel Franklin, 33, of Felixstowe Road, Abbeywood, south east London, appeared at the same court charged with Mrs Barrett's murder.

He was also remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on August 25.

A man and a woman, both in their early 30s, were previously arrested and later eliminated from the inquiry.

Mrs Barrett, a retired secretary, had a son, three grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

She had lived alone in the 15th-floor flat in Valiant House, overlooking Charlton Athletic's football stadium, for 20 years.

A post-mortem examination at Greenwich Mortuary found she died from multiple stab wounds.