Northampton man detained by police on suspicion of murder

A Northampton man was today detained by police on suspicion of murdering a woman whose body was found at an address in the town last Friday.

The body of 36-year-old mother Diana Dafter was discovered at an address in Lawrence Court, Lower Mounts, shortly after midday on October 7.

Specialist search teams and forensic officers spent more than 72 hours in the property gathering evidence during which Mrs Dafter’s body was removed for a post-mortem investigation on Saturday afternoon.

The Home Office pathologist who carried out the post-mortem at Leicester Royal Infirmary, revealed she had died as a result of multiple stab wounds, one of which proved fatal.

The 32-year-old suspect who was detained remains under medical supervision at a hospital in London after British Transport Police found him with a number of serious stab injuries at the capital’s Euston Station at about midday, on the same day Dafter's body was found.

Det Chief Inspector Adam Pendlebury, from the East Midlands Specialist Operations Unit’s Major Crime Team, said: “This has been an intensive few days of police activity during which a large number of officers and staff have been deployed to gather evidence from scenes in Northampton and at London Euston.

“The suspect is now under police guard at a hospital facility in London and we will be making arrangements in due course for him to be transferred to police custody.

“At this time Northamptonshire Police are not looking for anyone else in connection with this investigation.

“I would like to thank the local community around Lawrence Court for their co-operation over the past few days and would ask anyone who has information about this investigation to call Northamptonshire Police on 101, quoting incident 211 of Friday, October 7, 2022.”