Residents shocked as 13 year old girl arrested for murder in Wellingborough
A girl accused of murder and arson has been remanded in custody.
Last updated 12th Mar 2025
Residents of a Wellingborough street tell us they are shocked after the murder of a woman.
Police say formal identification is still to take place but they believe the victim to be 43-year-old mother-of-three Marta Bednarczyk. Her body was discovered in the early hours of Monday (10 March) following a housefire.
A 13 year old girl has been charged with her murder, and with arson with intent to endanger life, and appeared in court today.
The teenager, who cannot be identified because of her age, spoke only to confirm her name and date-of-birth as she made a four-minute appearance at Northampton Magistrates'.
A bench of three magistrates remanded the girl into secure youth accommodation and ordered her to appear before a judge at the Crown Court on Wednesday afternoon.
Wearing a grey round-necked sweater and jogging bottoms, the girl clutched a teddy bear with both hands throughout the hearing, sitting inside a glass-fronted dock alongside security officers.
She has been further remanded in youth detention, and will next appear before a Crown Court judge on April 11th.
"All the lights were going and I could see flames in the window"
We've been hearing from local residents now the news of the woman's death, and the fact that a young girl has been charged over the crime.
Sean Gibson lives nearby and says he was woken by the commotion of the fire in the early hours of Monday:
"It was 3am in the morning, and all the lights were going and I could see flames in the window, and the window was crackling, but I'd no idea what was going on or what it was all about."
Sean tells us that despite the incident he doesn't feel fearful living in the area of Wellingborough.
"It's not that fear or anything like that, things go on everyday, you can't move or uproot, you just have to carry on."
"I'm scared for my kids future."
There's a large police presence on Newcomen Road, with the only sign of Monday morning's fire, a broken window on the house.
Earlier today forensics teams entered the property.
We spoke with local resident Michael Perrea. He says he moved from London to get away from shocking crimes like this:
"I'm scared about my two kids future, I used to live in London and thought London was going bad, so decided to move to a village but this, this is crazy."
He says the area is normally friendly and safe:
"My friend lives in a block of 8 flats, and they always leave the door open, and now they're scared as well, because these things happen, and it's shocking."
A devastating couple of days
A scene guard remains in place and police are asking people to avoid the immediate area.
Detective Chief Insp Johnny Campbell, the senior investigating officer from the East Midlands Special Operations Unit, said:
“I want to take a moment to thank the many police officers and staff who are working and continue to work tirelessly on this investigation since the very tragic events of early yesterday morning. And, in particular, all our thoughts are with Marta’s family who have been fully co-operative throughout what has been a devastating couple of days for them."
They've said since the girls arrest they won't be making any further comments.