Stabbed burglar was on police bail - Belfast Telegraph

Friday, 24 June 2011

Police have been granted an extra 36 hours to question a householder suspected of murdering a burglar.

John Bennell, 27, from Hyde, Greater Manchester, died from a stab wound to the chest after four masked men allegedly tried to break in the back door of a terraced house in Salford at midnight on Wednesday.

Peter Flanagan, 59, was arrested on suspicion of murder, but his son, Neil, 27, and a 21-year-old woman have since been released.

Meanwhile, police have also arrested a man in connection with the incident on suspicion of burglary.

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said on Friday: "The 30-year-old from the Tameside area was arrested today and remains in police custody. Officers have been granted an extension of 36 hours to question the 59-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of murder. Inquiries are ongoing."

Police sources confirmed that Mr Bennell had been arrested in Tamworth, Staffordshire, earlier this month on suspicion of burglary.

He was held in custody overnight and then released by Staffordshire Police pending further inquiries. It is believed he was carried from the house in Ethel Avenue, Salford, to a nearby street after being stabbed in the break-in.

Police were first alerted by a frantic 999 call from a woman to reports of a burglary at the house, then a second call to reports of an injured man being carried along the street nearby.

Mr Bennell was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. A post-mortem examination confirmed he died as a result of a knife wound to the chest.

Police have made an appeal to the public to try to trace his accomplices.