Woman thrown off bridge was 'stabbed to death'

A woman murdered and dumped in a river had been stabbed to death, police in Northern Ireland said tonight.

Sharon Moore, whose body was pulled from the River Lagan in Lisburn, Co Antrim, had been stabbed in the chest, police said following a postmortem examination.

Detectives were tonight granted an extra 24 hours to question a man about the killing.

The body of Ms Moore was recovered by police frogmen after security guards monitoring CCTV cameras spotted the suspected killer throwing her off a bridge.

The 31-year-old single woman had lived in a flat in the Seymour Hill area of Dunmurry, a few miles from where her body was found on Monday.

According to neighbours she confided that a man had been pestering her.

"She said she liked living in her flat and wanted to stay, but there were some problems she needed to sort out," one said.

Ms Moore's body was pushed over Queen's Bridge close to Lisburn civic centre as shocked security guards watched on closed circuit cameras.

Her body was dragged from the river following a massive trawl by a special police team.

The car used to transport the victim was later stopped and taken away for forensic experts to study blood stains in the boot.

The man being questioned about the murder is believed to be in his 30s and from the Lisburn area.