RELATIVES of a man found dead in his North-East flat were last night said to be "shattered" by the deaths of two family members within the same week.

An investigation was launched on Wednesday after a post-mortem examination showed that Stephen Hunter, 33, of Peterlee, County Durham, died from a massive brain haemorrhage resulting from a violent attack.

The news came as a double blow to his family, who were still coming to terms with the death of Mr Hunter's 58-year-old mother, Sheila Jopling, from natural causes, last Thursday.

As they attended Ms Jopling's funeral at St Mary's Church, Horden, yesterday afternoon, forensic scientists and murder squad detectives were trying to piece together how her son died.

A police spokesman said: "The family has been absolutely shattered by this double tragedy, and has been left struggling to cope."

Officers found single, unemployed Mr Hunter's body in the living room of his ground-floor flat in Edenhill Road, Peterlee, on Sunday morning, after a concerned relative contacted them.

The discovery followed reports of a disturbance at a property in Keswick Road, a few hundred yards away, late on Friday night.

Forensic scientists and crime scene examiners yesterday began an inch-by-inch search of Mr Hunter's flat and the Keswick Road address.

Detective Superintendent Tom Ryan, who is leading the investigation, said a chain of events appeared to have started in Keswick Road and ended at the victim's flat, where he lived alone.

He said: "We would like to speak to anyone who was in the Keswick Road area on Friday evening, who might have seen Mr Hunter or anyone else involved in scuffles.

"We are also interested in hearing from anyone who was in the Edenhill Road area in the early hours of Saturday morning."

House-to-house inquiries were being carried out in the two areas yesterday.

Witnesses are asked to contact the incident room on 0191-586 2621, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.