Face of accused in murder case

This is the face of a 30-year old man charged with the murder of the former landlord of a pub on the Shropshire/Welsh border.

Glenn Rycroft, originally from Salford, Manchester, is alleged to have beaten Gareth MacDonald to death in a hotel bedroom near Heathrow.

Mr MacDonald and his wife, whom he married last year, used to run the Australia Arms at Trevor near Llangollen. The couple had three young children.

People living in Trevor were shocked this week over reports that Mr MacDonald had recently left his wife to set up home with his gay lover.

Rycroft appeared before Feltham magistrates court in Middlesex yesterday charged with the murder of Gareth MacDonald, 30, from Rhewl, near Mostyn in North Wales.

He was remanded in custody for a pre-trial hearing on January 2.

The body of Mr MacDonald was found in a room at the Travelodge Hotel at Heston Service Station on the M4 outside London on Saturday morning.

A post mortem revealed he died of head injuries, apparently inflicted with a hotel fire extinguisher.

Before running the Australia Arms, with his parents, Mr MacDonald ran a pub in Wrexham.

People in Trevor say he and his wife had been a friendly couple with lovely children.

The court heard yesterday that Rycroft and Mr Macdonald had been working together running an online travel agency.