Woman charged with murder after body found buried in garden

A woman whose father has been missing for years has been charged with murder after telling police she had killed a man and buried his body in her back garden.

Barbara Coombes, 63, of Matlock Road, Reddish, Stockport, has been charged with murder, preventing the lawful and decent burial of a dead body, fraud by false representation and obtaining a pecuniary advantage.

Police are investigating the disappearance of her father, Kenneth Coombes, who has not been seen for 10 to 15 years.

Coombes walked into Cheadle Heath Police Station on Sunday to tell officers she had killed a man, prompting police to dig up her back garden where they found human remains.

Officers have gone door-to-door handing a questionnaire to neighbours to say they are investigating the death of Mr Coombes, saying he would have been in his late 80s in 2005.

She will appear at Manchester and Salford Magistrates' Court this morning.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) have yet to formally identify the remains found in the garden.

The results of a Home Office post-mortem have not been disclosed.

Detective Inspector Dan Clegg, from GMP's Major Incident Team, said: "I would like to thank the community for their support as we continue to carry out our inquiries and we would like to reassure them that this is being treated incredibly seriously and we will do all that we can to find out what happened."

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