A man has been arrested in Dublin on suspicion of the murder of Mary Ward (22), who was found dead in her Belfast home last week.
The 26-year-old man was detained by detectives attached to the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation on Wednesday afternoon.
He is currently being detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 at a Garda station in Dublin.
Ms Ward’s body was discovered by police at her house in Melrose Street off the Lisburn Road in the south of the city on Tuesday, October 1st.
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At a press conference in Belfast on Wednesday, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) confirmed that Ms Ward died six days earlier on September 25th. It was only when they called to her home about an unrelated matter that they “observed a female crouched over against the upstairs front window” and gained entry to the house”.
“We located Mary deceased, unfortunately, within the property,” PSNI assistant chief constable Davy Beck told reporters.
The PSNI said on Monday night that a murder investigation had been ordered into Ms Ward’s death.
It emerged that she reported to police last month that she had been the victim of a violent assault, and the PSNI has since referred itself to the watchdog, the Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland, about its safeguarding response.
On Wednesday, the PSNI said “significant work and co-operation” had taken place with Garda colleagues and that the investigation is progressing “at pace”.
Assistant chief constable Beck also confirmed that the man arrested in Dublin was the same individual arrested by the PSNI in relation to the alleged assault reported by Ms Ward three weeks before her murder.
Ms Ward was last seen alive on Wednesday, September 25th, a day when she spent time in Dungannon, Co Tyrone; Grand Central Bus Station in Belfast and on Melrose Street.
She had telephoned police on September 4th and reported that she had the victim of an assault. Police responded to that call “within minutes” and spoke with the victim. A suspect was arrested and interviewed.
“What followed is the issue that concerns us in relation to the operational response and in essence, that risk assessment and decisions that were made thereafter in respect of how we handled that. That’s why we have made that open and transparent referral to the Ombudsman,” assistant chief constable Davy Beck told reporters.
Police received a further call from Ms Ward on September 10th and attempted to call her on September 24th. An officer spoke to her by phone on September 25th.
On October 1st, officers visited the Melrose Street property in relation to a matter “totally unconnected” to the alleged assault and discovered her body.
Following the discovery of her body, “we initiated an investigation into the unexplained and suspicious death”, the senior PSNI officer added.
“That investigation was led by detectives, that was a complex investigation that involved scene examination, detailed forensics, postmortem which brought us to the point where we were in a position to confirm that this was a murder on October 4th.”
Police issued a statement to media on Monday, October 7th, that a murder investigation had been ordered.
Asked by reporters during the press conference if police initially treated Ms Ward’s death as suicide and if her family had been told she had taken her own life, he declined to comment.
Ms Ward is the fourth woman to be murdered in Northern Ireland in past six weeks.
Assistant chief constable Beck rejected the suggestion that police are not taking the issue of violence against women and girls seriously enough.
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