A MAN has been charged with murder following the stabbing of a woman.

Shirley Elliott was discovered with multiple stab wounds outside her home in Hazel Grove, in the Leam Lane area of Gateshead, on Thursday night.

The 43-year-old died after arriving at Gateshead’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Her ex-partner, George Murray, 37, of Woodside Grove, Tantobie, near Stanley, County Durham, is charged with her murder.

Mr Murray appeared before Gateshead Magistrates’ Court on Saturday.

He was remanded in custody and is due before Newcastle Crown Court on Tuesday, December 16.

Ms Elliott had just become a grandmother for the first time.

She had one son and two daughters, aged 21, 18 and 13.

Neighbours and friends of Ms Elliott have spoken of their shock.

They described her as a doting mother who had been delighted at becoming a grandmother just a few weeks ago.

Neighbour Roshea Tierney, 30, said: “We were over at the park and saw lots of police cars arriving.

“She was a very timid woman but she was really nice.

“It’s just horrible what’s happened to her. She had never been in any trouble in her life.

“She adored her children.

She was just trying her best to bring them up.”

Ms Tierney’s father, Malcolm, 58, said: “I’m gutted.

She was just a canny normal council estate lass. She had three nice children and she thought the world of them. I just can’t believe it.”

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Northumbria Police on 03456-043-043.

Meanwhile, a family have spoken of their shock after the son of an elderly woman appeared in court charged with her killing.

Williamina Valentine, 84, of Cleghorn Street, Newcastle, was discovered unconscious at her home on Thursday.

The mother-of-three was pronounced dead at Newcastle General Hospital.

Son David Valentine, 46, also of Cleghorn Street, was charged with murder and remanded in custody by Newcastle Magistrates’ Court on Saturday.

He will appear at Newcastle Crown Court next Monday.

His brother, Brian, of Wallsend, North Tyneside, and sister, Susan, of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, issued a statement after the hearing.

It read: “As a family, we are naturally devastated by what has happened.”