Mother and daughter stabbed to death in ‘noisy neighbour row’

A MOTHER and her daughter were stabbed to death and a man was left fighting for his life yesterday after a row with neighbours in a leafy village ended in a bloodbath.

Witnesses said t he women – named locally as Sharon Harris, 55, and her 78-year-old mother Margaret – were killed after Margaret’s husband David, 76, tried to intervene in an argument between a man and his girlfriend outside.

According to one, them an chased Mr Harris back into his house and it is understood Sharon and her mother were attacked.

Neighbours spoke of their shock at learning of the double murder in their ‘quiet and friendly’ village – Hadlow, near Tonbridge in Kent.

Retired Mr Harris is said to have stepped into the row because the couple were making so much noise.

A neighbour said: ‘We’ve heard that a young man was having an argument with his girlfriend. David went out to tell them to be quiet.

‘The man apparently chased him into the house and went berserk. God only knows what went on in there.’

Police were called to the scene by paramedics at 7.40am. They closed

‘God only knows what went on in the house’

off the lane where the Harris’s £250,000 semi-detached home sits.

An air ambulance flew Mr Harris to hospital in London with serious injuries.

Police said a 28-year-old man was arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder. Forensics officers were later seen going into the three-bedroom 1930s mock Tudor property.

Last night, Margaret Harris’s sister Doris Pope, 71, said: ‘It’s just a big shock and obviously we hope that the person who did this is brought to justice.

‘We are shocked and devastated and just cannot believe something like this can happen.’

It is understood the Harris family had been involved in ongoing disputes with some neighbours about their driveway.

Neighbour Sophie Moorey-Brown, 31, said: ‘The first we knew about it was when there was an air ambulance very low over the houses.

‘There was a heavy police presence and forensic teams. We’ve lived here for five years and never heard anything bad happen. It has always been so quiet and a lovely place to be. We are very shocked and saddened by what we have heard and are trying to shield our boys from hearing too much.

‘I feel so sad for the families of the deceased and hope the man makes a full recovery.

‘It is such an awful thing to hear anywhere but in our lovely, friendly little village it’s bound to rock us residents even more so.’ Neighbour Margaret Maile, 63, a retired accountant, said: ‘I came home to see this cordon.

‘I knew Sharon and only saw her a few days ago. She used to leave home early and come back after 6pm. I heard a man was taken to hospital in London for treatment.’

Resident Nigel Keogh, 50, said: ‘They are an amicable family, we didn’t know them well but knew them to smile or say hello to. They seemed nice. There was a campervan often parked outside, I think they would go off on little trips.’

Others said t hat Mr Harris used to play bowls and that the family owned an allotment. Another neighbour who asked not to be

Police and forensic teams outside the house where the two people are believed to have died, left, and, above, the home outside of which there is reported to have been an argument named, said: ‘They are very quiet peopl e a nd keep t hemselves to themselves. The Harris family had a campervan which you used to see them go out in all the time. Margaret was quite feeble. It’s awful to think what has happened. It’s normally so quiet around here. I saw their son walk past and he was on the phone and said that Sharon and his mum were dead.’ Another neighbour said that Sharon Harris used to work at the Salter scales warehouse in Tonbridge.

A spokesman for Kent Police said: ‘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. Officers arrested a 28-year-old man on suspicion of murder. He remains in police custody whilst enquiries continue. It is believed the victims and the suspect were known to each other. The victims’ next of kin have been made aware.’