FRIENDS and neighbours have spoken of their shock at the killing of Julie Davison – just hours after she celebrated winning a lottery prize with them.

David Heselton, 51, a family friend, said Ms Davison spent Tuesday evening playing bingo at Whitby and District Rifle Club, 200 yards from the housing association home he helped set up for her last year.

Regulars said she had been her usual “quiet, unassuming normal self” and drank fruit juices, but had been pleased to collect £40 for choosing the bonus ball in Saturday’s Lottery sweepstake.

Mr Heselton said Ms Davison, 50, the youngest member of his class at Caedmon School, Whitby, had suffered regular epileptic fits since she was a girl.

He said after both her parents died and she returned to Whitby from Lancashire, she had remained close to her sister and brother-in-law, who regularly checked up on her at the flat in Church Square.

Ms Davison’s son had returned to Whitby to grieve with relatives.

As police continued to search for clues outside the club yesterday, friends gathered in the bar to remember the “introverted, generous and quiet lady”.

One woman, who declined to be named, said: “People in Whitby, and particularly those who knew Julie well, are extremely upset that the murderer seems to have specifically targeted an innocent and vulnerable person.”

Mr Heselton said as Ms Davison had suffered epileptic seizures, she had been unable to find employment, and instead focused her energies on charity work, volunteering for St John Ambulance and Mind.

It is understood she had also started helping out at the nearby British Heart Foundation shop.

Shirley Hester, service manager at Scarborough, Whitby and Ryedale Mind, said: “Julie was a valued member of our group and a really lovely person who will be sorely missed by everyone.”

One of Ms Davison’s neighbours, Mick Clamp, who runs Middleham bed and breakfast, said the women living in the same the street were worried following the killing, a concern echoed by several others as they collected their children from West Cliff Primary School across the road.

The Reverend Canon David Smith, who leads services at St Hilda’s Church, overlooking Ms Davison’s flat, said: “I have had a lot of people coming up to me – the whole community is shocked and stunned by what has happened."