Delia Hughes case: Man in court charged with murder
A man has appeared in court charged with the murder of a great-grandmother who was found beaten to death in her Southampton home.
Delia Hughes, 85, was found at her Atlantic Close flat in the Ocean Village development on 18 August.
Jamie Lee Boult, 24, of Chessel Crescent, Southampton, was taken into custody on Sunday morning.
He appeared at Southampton Magistrates' Court earlier and was remanded in custody.
The court was told that Mr Boult is alleged to have entered Mrs Hughes' ground-floor flat and repeatedly hit her with a lump hammer.
Mr Boult is also facing a further charge of aggravated burglary relating to a separate incident in Bitterne four days before Mrs Hughes was killed.
He is due to appear before Winchester Crown Court on Thursday.
Police said no further action is being taken against a 29-year-old woman and a 37-year-old man who were arrested on suspicion of murder days after Mrs Hughes' death.
Mrs Hughes was originally from Blackpool in Lancashire but had lived in Southampton for the past 17 years.