Third man charged with murder of Barry Dawson in Stanley

Mr Dawson was shot dead in his own home in Stanley on April 2, prompting an ‘extensive’ Police investigation which has seen homes raided and armed cops taking to the town’s streets.

Kelvin Craig Lawson, 37, of Frosterley Gardens, Stanley, was arrested after a search warrant was carried out last night (April 11).

Mr Lawson did not enter a plea and will be held in custody until he appears at Teesside Crown Court on Monday (April 14).

He becomes the third person to be charged with Mr Dawson’s murder.

(Image: DURHAM CONSTABULARY) Thomas Lee Sterling was arrested on Wednesday evening, four days after Mr Dawson’s tragic death.

The 21-year-old, of The Avenue, Stanley, appeared at Peterlee Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (April 10) where he entered no plea, and has been held in custody until he appears at Crown Court on Monday.

Kevin Dorward, 38, of South View Gardens, Annfield Plain, is also charged with murder and appeared briefly at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (April 10) where he was remanded in custody to appear at Durham Crown Court on Friday.

His partner Michaela Hetherington, faces a single charge of perverting the course of justice, relating to an allegation that she falsely reported a car had been stolen.

(Image: SARAH CALDECOTT) District Judge Steven Hood granted her conditional bail, but John Garside, prosecuting, made an immediate appeal against that decision, so she was remanded into custody pending a crown court hearing to consider the matter.

On Tuesday, April 8, Superintendent Peter Carr said that a 35-strong team of detectives was “working around the clock” on the case and had “support from armed response officers, specialist crime scene examiners, search teams and neighbourhood officers.”

A 47-year-old man, who was wanted in connection with the death, handed himself in on Wednesday afternoon.