A MAN has been remanded in custody after appearing at court charged with the murder of Hartlepool pensioner Norma Bell.

Gareth Dack, 32, of Windermere Road, in the town, appeared at Teesside Crown Court via a video link from Stockton's Holme House Prison.

The charge was not put to the defendant during the short administrative hearing and he will reappear at court again on May 10.

The 79 year-old victim in the case, a former foster carer who had fostered dozens of children, was found dead following a fire at her home in Westbourne Road, Hartlepool.