Man to face court charged with ex-wife’s murder after house fire

Georgian Constantin, 42, of Stoke-on-Trent, was charged on Wednesday with the murder of Valentina Cozma and making threats to kill.

A man will face court on Thursday charged with the murder of his former wife in a house fire in Stoke-on-Trent (Staffordshire Police handout/PA) (PA Media)

A man will face court on Thursday charged with the murder of his former wife in a house fire in Stoke-on-Trent.

Georgian Constantin, of Stoke-on-Trent, was charged the day before with the murder of Valentina Cozma and making threats to kill.

He was detained in London on Tuesday morning after Staffordshire Police appealed for help to locate the 42-year-old, who also had links to Southampton.

He will appear before a magistrate at the North Staffordshire Justice Centre later on Thursday.

Ms Cozma, 40, died after a fire at her home in Campbell Road, Stoke, at about 3pm on February 9.

A post-mortem examination provided a provisional cause of death as smoke inhalation.