Unwell murder suspect 'may have taken substance'

A man who became critically ill after being arrested on suspicion of killing a shopkeeper in front of witnesses including children may have "ingested a substance", police have said.

Nilani Nimalarajah, 44, died after being stabbed in the chest in the Low Cost Food & Wine store in Bootle, Merseyside, shortly after 17:00 BST on 20 June.

A 47-year-old man was detained at the scene on Stanley Road and Merseyside Police said a knife was seized.

However the man, from the Widnes area, became unwell shortly after arriving in custody and was taken to hospital where he remains in a "critical but stable" condition.

The force said it "cannot definitively say how the suspect became ill" but "one line of enquiry" was that he had taken something.

"A number of tests have been carried out to establish if he did ingest a substance and we are awaiting the results of those tests", a statement said.

Following her death, customers described Ms Nimalarajah as "lovely with everyone who stepped into the shop" and a "hardworking woman".

Constantin Manzu, who runs nearby C&C Cakes, said two people who witnessed the attack stayed in his shop for a short time afterwards as "everyone was in shock".

He said: "I just literally burst into tears when I heard and I saw everyone crying and screaming."

Merseyside Police are treating the killing as a domestic attack and are not seeking anybody else in connection with their inquiries.

Det Insp Alan Nuttall said the suspect was believed to have travelled to the shop from the Wirral area by bus.

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