Man charged with killing neighbours

THE next door neighbour of a mother and daughter stabbed to death in a leafy village has been charged with their murders.

Jack Ralph, 28, is accused of attacking Sharon Harris, 55, and her mother Margaret, 78, after a noisy row outside their home in Hadlow, Kent.

He has also been charged with the attempted murder of Margaret’s husband David, 76, who was airlifted to hospital after being stabbed during the incident early on Saturday.

Neighbours said Ralph had been having a row with a woman, believed to be his ex-girlfriend, outside Mr Harris’s threebedroom mock-Tudor home when the retired mechanic tried to intervene.

Paramedics went to the family’s aid but Sharon and Margaret were pronounced dead at the scene. Last night Mr Harris was in a ‘stable’ condition in hospital.

A Kent Police spokesman said: ‘We were called to a property in Carpenters Lane at 7.41am on Saturday where three people had suffered serious injuries consistent with a stabbing.

‘Two women, aged in their 50s and 70s, died at the scene. A man in his 70s was taken to a London hospital for treatment. His condition is described as stable.

‘It is believed the victims and the suspect were known to each other. Jack Ralph, 28, was arrested and an investigation was launched.’

Ralph will appear before Medway Magistrates Court today.