Charges over Wolverhampton murder

Three Polish men were this afternoon being charged with the double murder of Wolverhampton grandparents found stabbed and beaten to death in their own bedroom.

The major development comes hours after another significant breakthrough in the case that saw two televisions stolen from tragic Guiseppe and Caterina Massaro's house recovered from an address in the city.

Detectives were this afternoon given permission from the Crown Prosecution Service to charge three men arrested earlier this week after lawyers ruled there was a case to answer.

The Massaros had been stabbed with a knife and hit with a hammer in what officers describe as a "sustained and brutal attack" at their ransacked home in Woden Road, Heath Town, last Thursday night.

Wojciech Ostolski, aged 32, and 21-year-old Lieneusz Bartnowski, both from Wolverhampton, were being charged with both murders and aggravated burglary along with Macaej Kus, 30, from Birmingham.

The three are expected to appear before city magistrates tomorrow and will be held in custody overnight.

Supt Mark Payne, of Wolverhampton police, said today the "weight of the force's resources" had been used during the massive inquiry. He added: "This is a one-off, isolated tragic incident. Tragedies like this are extremely rare but have enormous impact."

The couple's 23-year-old granddaughter Lindsey Booth found the bodies of her grandfather Guiseppe, an 80-year-old former GKN worker, and his 77-year-old former factory worker wife in their bedroom at around 8pm on Friday.

A post-mortem revealed defensive injuries on Mr Massaro, indicating he had "put up a struggle" with his attackers.

The couple's black Peugeot 307 was stolen and recovered half a mile away in Tithe Croft. Two TVs also taken were recovered overnight in Wolverhampton.