Sarah murder accused in court

Jan 21 2008 by Barry Gibson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

A HUDDERSFIELD man has appeared in court charged with murder.

Kevin Newton appeared before the town’s magistrates on Saturday charged with killing 32-year-old Sarah Elizabeth Mournian.

She vanished from the town centre last autumn and it is understood her body has not been found, despite a major police investigation.

Newton, 40, of Birkby, was remanded in custody. He will appear before Bradford Crown Court for a preliminary hearing on Thursday by videolink.

Newton lives on Grisedale Avenue, off Grimscar Avenue. The house has been sealed off by police since he was arrested last week.

Detectives from West Yorkshire Police’s Homicide and Major Enquiry Team have been questioning him and applied to Huddersfield magistrates on Thursday for extra time to quiz him.

Specialist police teams and forensic experts are believed to have been searching his house. The terraced home has been under constant police guard, with a white forensics tent outside.

Sarah, who was 32, was last seen alive in Huddersfield last September 18. An address in Dewsbury that she is believed to have lived in at one stage now lies empty.

At the time of her disappearance the police launched a missing person inquiry.

Sarah was white and 5ft 4in tall with brown hair.

When last seen she was wearing a green or khaki-coloured jacket, a blue jumper, a black denim mini-skirt with orange stitching and black, knee-length boots. She was carrying a black rucksack type bag.