A MAN accused of killing his partner walked free from court today after the prosecution withdrew all charges against him.
Gary O'Dowd (38), from Brookfield Avenue in Banbridge, Co Down, had been accused of the murder of his dental nurse girlfriend Laura Marshall on a date unknown between March 31 and April 3 2016.
He had also faced an accusation of threatening to kill Miss Marshall "intending that Laura Marshall would fear it would be carried out" and with assaulting her on 23 March.
Previous courts have heard how the body of the popular dental nurse, described as "bubbly, fun loving and full of life" by her friends, was found by a maintenance man in a block of flats on Victoria Street in Lurgan on Sunday April 3.
Police launched a murder investigation following a post mortem examination and O'Dowd was arrested that evening, denying involvement in his partner's death throughout a week of police questioning.
Giving evidence to the court when O'Dowd first appeared accused of the murder, a detective sergeant outlined how Miss Marshall was found in the bath with a deep cut to her wrist.
The wash hand basin had been wrenched from the wall and it was the subsequent leak which alerted the workman who made the macabre discovery said the detective, describing how the bathroom was a "violent scene" with a "significant amount of blood pool near the sink and some in the bath."
He also told the court that there was bruising all over her body and that the pathologist Professor Crane said there "may be indication of forced sex."
In court today a prosecution lawyer said he was applying for all charges to be withdrawn, effectively ending the case.
