Everything we know about the David Brickwood murder inquiry as ninth suspect arrested
Scrap metal merchant Mr Brickwood was previously described by his neighbours as 'the heart of the street'
Today (Thursday) police revealed that a 26-year-old London man was arrested over the murder of grandfather-of-10, David Brickwood.
The new suspect was arrested in the capital last night (Wednesday) and is due to be interviewed today (Thursday) by investigating officers in Northampton.
The five-year investigation has included a number of appeals by Northamptonshire Police who also worked with the BBC’s Crimewatch.
What do we know so-far?
Police were called out to Mr Brickwood’s house in Lindsay Avenue, Abington, shortly after 2am on Saturday, September 26, 2015, and found he had been the victim of a violent assault at his own home.
An unknown number of raiders had pushed open a downstairs window before bursting into the pensioner’s bedroom and delivering a brutal assault while he was in bed.
David initially survived the attack and was able to call the police. Officers performed emergency first aid in an attempt to save the 74-year-old’s life, however, he died a short time later at Northampton General Hospital.
A team of 45 detectives in the regional crime unit were working on the case in 2015.
Mr Brickwood had lived in the Abington area for more than 50 years and was well known for running a scrap metal business.
More than 70 of bunches of flowers were left along the wall at the front of his property days after his death and one week later an emotional candle-lit tribute by friends and family was held.
In January 2017, seven police divers from Nottinghamshire were searching for a murder weapon in the lake at Eastfield Park - which is roughly a mile from Mr Brickwood’s address.
At an inquest on May 17, 2017, deputy coroner for Northamptonshire, Hassan Shah, ruled that Mr Brickwood was “unlawfully killed."
The inquest heard how David's mattress was found upturned as if a frantic search had taken place – yet the attackers had left a 50-inch television in the front room.
The grandfather-of-10 – known to be a man of routine who distrusted banks – called out of the front bay window for help afterwards.
He died from a mixture of 35 blunt trauma and stab wounds. His son said at the time of the inquest that his dad was a 'pillar of the Abington community'.
Annual appeals have been launched by the police and members of family as the investigation continued and police vowed to keep the inquiry active.