Brothers came back from New Year party to find mum murdered

TWO brothers returned home from a New Year’s Eve party to find their mother had been murdered only minutes before midnight.

Slade Clark, 19, and Sheldon, 22, arrived in a taxi to discover police and paramedics at their house.

Their mother Melanie, 44, had suffered knife wounds and had been pronounced dead at 12.12am. A 49-year- old has been arrested on suspicion of her murder.

Mrs Clark, pictured, and husband David, who turned 49 yesterday, were originally from South Africa, neighbours said.

They had lived in the £200,000 semidetached house with Mrs Clark’s two sons from a previous relationship for seven years.

Officers had been called to the property, in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, at 11.52pm on Sunday.

Neighbours said a man wearing pyjamas was taken from the house by police. Gareth Cole, 67, who lives in the street, said: ‘I was in bed at the time, there were a load of fireworks going off, and suddenly the flashes of light turned blue and there were a load of police cars outside the house.

‘I saw the two boys coming back in a taxi at around 1am, it looked like they had been to a party and didn’t know what had happened.

‘They were led up the street by a policeman, and were only there for about 20 minutes before they were taken away. I saw someone being arrested afterwards, he was in very colourful pyjama bottoms and a T-shirt.’

Another resident said: ‘I saw the lads coming back in a taxi, they didn’t seem to know what had happened. A few minutes later I saw them walking back down the road, it looked like one of them was in tears.’

One neighbour claimed they heard a ‘loud bang’ coming from the house shortly before midnight.

An open gas canister could be seen outside the property as police searched inside.

The 60-year-old, who lives in the street but who did not want to be named, said: ‘It was just after midnight that it all kicked off.

‘Then there was this almighty bang, it was incredibly loud. Obviously there was noise from fireworks, but this was even louder.’

friend Becky Richards, 26, first met Mrs Clark when they started working at a care home together seven years ago.

She said Mrs Clark, who also had a daughter, Caitlin, was ‘quirky and bold’ with a great sense of humour. Miss Richards, a nurse, said: ‘from day one we just hit it off.

‘She was a lovely person, so bright and bubbly. She’d light up the room.’