“This is not the first time a pretty white woman has been murdered by a black lover or acquaintance before in Britain. What drives these women to get involved with blacks in the first place?” — News contributor JR from Britain
A Birmingham football coach today appeared in court charged with the murder ofhis glamour model ex-lover who was killed in a frenzied knife attack ather home.
Ricardo Morrison was remanded in custody at BoltonMagistrates Court where he was accused of killing part-time model andactress Amy Barnes.
The 21-year-old amateur footballer, withaspirations to play professionally, wore a dark blue sweatshirt andnodded to confirm his name and date of birth, but did not speak duringthe brief hearing at Bolton Magistrates’ Court.
Amy, aged 19, who was a friend of Baggies striker Ishmael Miller anda former girlfriend of Blackburn striker Benni McCarthy, died aftersuffering stab wounds to her face and chest at her home in theFarnworth area of Bolton on Saturday lunchtime.
Morrison,whose 49-year-old mother is a West Midlands Police officer, wasarrested at an address in south Birmingham later that day and takenback to the north-west where he was charged last night.
His mother was being questioned by police after she was arrested today on suspicion of assisting an offender.
LaraineMason, prosecuting, told magistrates: “The defendant is before you thismorning charged with murder, the murder of his former girlfriend.
“The defendant appears before you in custody and the charge is indictable only.”
FranklinSinclair, defending, said there would be no application for bail andMorrison, originally from Birmingham, was currently of no fixed address.
MsJan Azakli, chairman of the bench, told the defendant: “This case isgoing to be adjourned until November 19 at Manchester Crown Court.”
Twoyears ago, Ricardo Morrison worked as an assistant coach at theBirmingham’s Brazilian Soccer School, part of a network of academiesteaching footballing skills to youngsters.
He was photographedstanding alongside Brazilian football legend Carlos Alberto Torres,captain of the World Cup winning side of 1970.
The photographwas taken in August 2006 when Torres visited the city to help coachbudding soccer stars aged six to 16 from across Birmingham in theBrazilian-style ball control.
Ian Lowndes, who had recentlytaken over the BSS, said he did not know Morrison and added that he wasno longer involved in the organisation.