Man in court over great-grandmother's death

A man is due to appear before magistrates today charged 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.

Daniel Franklin, 33, of Felixstowe Road, Abbeywood, south-east London, is due to appear at Camberwell Magistrates' Court charged with her murder.

Detectives last night arrested a woman who is currently in custody at a south London police station.

A man and a woman, both aged in their early 30s, were 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 football stadium, for the past 20 years.

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