A man accused of killing a teenage girl found dead in a busy caravan park has appeared in court charged with her murder.
Matthew Selby, 19, was arrested on Saturday afternoon by police after the body was discovered at the Ty Mawr holiday park in Towyn, north Wales. Selby appeared at Llandudno magistrates’ court charged with the murder and spoke at the brief hearing only to confirm his name, address and date of birth.
Selby, from Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester, was remanded in custody and is due to appear at Mold crown court tomorrow.
North Wales Police and the air ambulance service was called to the holiday park last weekend in what was described by its owners as an “isolated incident” with no threat to the wider public.
Pictures posted on social media showed holidaymakers gathered in a car park as the emergency services investigated the scene. One showed a caravan had been taped off by detectives.
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Carly Hargreaves, 44, a mother-of-two who travelled to the park from Manchester on Friday for a break, said: “To come away on holiday and not go home with that special person is tragic.”
Kay Redhead, 41, the mayor of the local Towyn & Kinmel Bay council, said: “It has knocked us to the core. This is a fantastic place where we welcome everyone. This time of year, we have 45,000 to 50,000 extra people in the area — and with staycation, it’s really bustling.”
A spokesman for the holiday park said: “We are shocked and saddened that such a tragic situation happened in such a safe and happy environment, where families come to relax. The park welcomes tens of thousands of happy holidaymakers every year. This was an isolated and unprecedented incident, which took place inside a caravan that is now a crime scene.”
North Wales Police have not revealed a cause of death and said in a statement: “We would ask the public not to speculate about this incident on social media as this is an active investigation.”
Earlier, after responding to the incident on Saturday, they said: “North Wales Police can confirm that we attended the report of a domestic disturbance at the location where sadly a 15-year-old female has died.”