A woman at the centre of a murder investigation was discovered dead at the bottom of the stairs, an inquest has heard.

Mashal Ilyas, 24, from Atherton, was declared dead at her home address on Oxford Road around a month ago.

At the time the police said there were no suspicious circumstances but, after a postmortem, the police said there were suspicious circumstances and a 52-year-old man was accused of the murder of Ms Ilyas.

At Bolton Coroners' Court, area coroner Professor Dr Alan Walsh heard how the warehouse worker was discovered dead at the bottom of the stairs by the paramedics and the police who were in attendance.

Prof Dr Walsh said: "I will suspend my investigation pending the Crown Court proceedings.

"It will be reviewed next month for an update with regard to the Crown Court proceedings."

Nadeem Muhammed Begum, 52, of Oxford Road, Atherton, was accused of the murder of Ms Ilyas.

Begum appeared in court for the first time last month and is to appear at Bolton Crown Court on November 14.

This article was written by Jack Tooth. To contact him, email jack.tooth@newsquest.co.uk or follow @JTRTooth on Twitter.