A man will appear in court today charged with the murder of a North-East schoolboy.
Police revealed this morning that 42-year-old Neil English, of Chester Road, Sunderland, had been charged with the murder of 11-year-old Dean Pike and the attempted murder of the schoolboy's 29-year-old mother Janine Dodd.
He will appear before Sunderland Magistrates' Court later today.
Dean died in a fire at his home in Mordey Close, in Hendon, Sunderland in the early hours of June 24.
His heavily-pregnant mother escaped the fire, but remains in hospital where she is said to be making steady progress..
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