Legal moves to have a Belfast man stand trial for allegedly beating his partner to death are facing potential delay due to outstanding biological evidence, a court heard has heard.
Jamie Love (24) has been charged with murdering Kathryn Parton at her home in the east of the city on May 9 last year.
His 44-year-old mother, Suzanne Love, is accused of helping to clear up the scene in the aftermath of the fatal attack.
A date for a preliminary enquiry to confirm that both defendants will go on trial was expected to be fixed at Belfast Magistrates Court on Monday.
But despite efforts to obtain all information from the autopsy and forensic evidence, a judge was told that some material has not yet been submitted to the Public Prosecution Service.
“Biology reports will not be ready until the end of February,” a Crown lawyer disclosed.
Defence representatives indicated it was the time they had been made aware of the outstanding material.
Adjourning the case until next month, District Judge Amanda Henderson requested a further update at that stage.
Both defendants remain in custody charged in connection with their alleged roles in either the killing or the aftermath.
Ms Parton’s body was found in the blood-stained bedroom of the house where she was murdered.
Post-mortem examinations established that the 34-year-old, known as Kat, died from haemorrhaging, lacerations to the scalp and nasal fractures following a sustained assault to the head which involved no weapons.
Detectives believe she lay undiscovered for six days until her father went to the property amid concerns for wellbeing.
Jamie Love, who was in a relationship with Ms Parton and lived at the Madrid Street address, has been charged with her murder based on CCTV and witness evidence.
His mother, from Isoline Street in Belfast, faces counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice and assisting an offender.
A third accused, 23-year-old Reece Oliver of Castleton Gardens in the city, is also charged with assisting an offender.
He drove Suzanne Love to the Madrid Street property to help her son pack up and move out on the night Ms Parton is believed to have been killed, previous courts heard.
The three defendants were then seen on footage leaving the house again with belongings and a dog.
Jamie Love and Oliver spent the next two nights at B&Bs in Strabane and Portaferry allegedly booked and paid for by Suzanne Love.
She initially claimed Ms Parton had been sitting on the floor, crying but unhurt, while she was at the house.
But according to police, two bloodied footprints discovered on a duvet close to the victim’s body suggests that more than one person was present either during or after the victim was attacked.
One was said to be an Ugg boot similar to those worn by Suzanne Love, while a print which allegedly matched Nike trainers worn by her son was also found at the scene.
The same type of footwear subsequently seized from Suzanne Love’s home had been freshly washed and placed outside to dry.
During initial interviews she provided a statement denying any knowledge about the victim’s death and then provided no comment to questions.
However, in a further statement after evidence about the Ugg print and cleaning of footwear was put to her, Suzanne Love told police she accompanied Oliver to Madrid Street to help her son move out because he had fallen out with Ms Parton.