Dentist Colin Howell and his ex-lover Hazel Stewart got away with murder for almost 20 years because of a deeply flawed police investigation which also failed the families of their two victims, a report claimed today.

The Thread, Victoria Hislop

A dentist who murdered his wife and ex lover’s husband then covered it up as suicide has apologised for killing two innocent and honourable people as verdicts delivered at the original inquest were overturned.

Killer dentist Colin Howell has been given a five-and-a-half-year jail term for indecently assaulting five of his female patients.

KILLER dentist Colin Howell apologised to women patients he attacked in his surgery as he pleaded guilty to nine charges of indecent assault just moments before he was due to stand trial.

Killer dentist Colin Howell has pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting nine women patients at his surgery just moments before he was due to stand trial on the charges.

A new inquest into the deaths of Lesley Howell and Trevor Buchanan will set the record straight after their partners were jailed for their murders, a coroner’s court hearing in the North was told today.

NORTHERN Ireland’s Attorney General has ordered a fresh inquest into the deaths of two people murdered by dentist Colin Howell and his lover.

The North's Attorney General has ordered a fresh inquest into the deaths of two people murdered by dentist Colin Howell and his lover.

Former Sunday school teacher Hazel Stewart, who was jailed for murdering her policeman husband and her ex-lover’s wife, has launched an appeal bid against her conviction.

THE clock on the wall directly above the dock was just approaching 10.23 when she heard the words which condemned her.

A former Sunday school teacher who murdered her policeman husband and her ex-lover's wife and then covered it up as a double suicide was jailed for a minimum of 18 years today.

A mother jailed for life for murdering her husband and ex-lover's wife is due to hear today how long she must spend in prison.

The children of a former Sunday school teacher who murdered their father and her lover's wife have pleaded with a judge to show their mother mercy, a court heard today.

A former Sunday school teacher in the North convicted of murdering her husband and her ex-lover’s wife will be sentenced on March 16, the Northern Ireland Court service said today.

Colin Howell's US-born wife may be questioned again by detectives who re-opened the investigation into the deaths of his first wife and PC Trevor Buchanan, it was revealed today

The conviction of Hazel Stewart for murdering her husband brings no sense of victory or celebration, his brother said tonight.

A former Sunday school teacher has today been found guilty of murdering her policeman husband and her lover’s wife.

The jury in the trial of a woman accused of murdering her husband and her former lover’s wife in 1991 will retire to consider its verdict today.

A jury which will decide whether a former Sunday school teacher is guilty of a double murder must keep an open mind, the judge said tonight.

A jury was urged to avoid a miscarriage of justice today as the murder trial of Hazel Stewart in the North drew to a close.

A FORMER Sunday school teacher accused of murdering her policeman husband and her lover’s wife will not give evidence at her trial, her lawyer told Coleraine Crown Court today.

A former Sunday school teacher broke down in the dock today as she listening to a tearful police recording of her admitting and saying sorry for plotting the murders of her policeman husband and lover's wife.

Hazel Stewart told police she wished she was dead when they questioned her about the murders of her husband and her ex-lover’s wife, a court heard today.

Dentist Colin Howell tried to trick psychiatrists into thinking he killed his wife on the spur of the moment in order to get a shorter sentence, he told the trial of his former lover Hazel Stewart.

KILLER dentist Colin Howell claimed the wife he murdered was a bad mother who he once found drunk and unconscious, lying in vomit, when she should have been looking after their four children.

Double killer Colin Howell said today that he hopes the victims of his crimes can forgive him for what he did.

Killer dentist Colin Howell injected his lover with drugs to knock her out while they had sex and once feared he had overdosed her, a court heard today.

Double murderer Colin Howell went for a game of squash in the days after he killed his wife and his lover’s husband – and his mistress showed no emotion when told their bodies had been found, a court in the North heard today.

A mother held her hands over her ears as her policeman husband struggled for his life when her lover gassed him to death in his bed, a court in the North heard today.

A former play school assistant in the North conspired with her dentist lover to murder her husband and his wife for their own selfish ends, her trial heard today.

A jury was sworn in today at the start of a trial of a woman accused of murdering her policeman husband and her ex-lover’s wife in the North almost 20 years ago.

The trial of a woman accused of murdering her policeman husband and her lover’s wife will begin today.

The trial of a woman accused of murdering her policeman husband and her lover’s wife will begin tomorrow.

A DENTIST who murdered his wife and ex-lover’s policeman husband as they slept nearly 20 years ago and covered it up as a double suicide has been jailed for a minimum of 21 years.

A dentist who poisoned his wife and ex-lover’s policeman husband and then covered it up as a double suicide was jailed for a minimum of 21 years today.

A SCHEMING dentist murdered his wife and his lover’s policeman husband by poisoning them with car exhaust fumes as they slept, a court heard yesterday.

The trial of a woman accused of the murders 20 years ago of her husband and her ex-lover’s wife has been delayed after it emerged her co-accused made a lengthy statement to police.

A dentist in the North pleaded guilty today to the murders of his wife and the policeman husband of his ex-lover who were first thought to have died in a suicide pact almost 20 years ago.

The double murder trial of dentist Colin Howell and his ex-lover Hazel Stewart will go ahead as planned later this month, a judge said today.

A dentist accused of murdering his wife and his ex-lover's husband pleaded guilty today to indecently assaulting three women patients at his surgery.

The trial of a dentist and his ex-lover accused of murdering their partners in the North nearly 20 years ago has had to be delayed because of a hold-up in obtaining psychiatric reports.

A dentist accused of murdering his wife and his lover's policeman husband is facing new charges of indecent assault on some of his women patients, it was revealed today.

Transcripts of police interviews with a dentist accused of murdering his wife and his ex lover’s husband should be complete by the end of next month a court heard today.