Witnesses to street brawl are sought

ble. “I have to pay the hospital £50 a week”, she said.

“But because I lost my job my benefits mean I only get £140 a fortnight so there’s no way I can pay that much unless I win the lottery.

“I’m meeting with my solicitor to see if I can bring the amount down to £20 a week, but either way it’ll take years to pay back.

“It’s a nightmare. My friend Louise is paying for my food and bits every day and my other friend Donna is also helping me out.”

Jackie has moved in with Louise in South Shields because she cannot bear to be alone in her North Shields home, where she lived in the same building as her dad.

If Jackie is forced to pay off her debts at £50 a week, she will be saddled with the repayment for more than 14 years. Jackie said she will look for a job and will “take anything” she can get after having time to grieve.

Despite the ordeal, Jackie did have reason to smile as she was reunited with her two children, 14-year-old John and six-year-old Sean, for the first time in months.

She said: “I was absolutely buzzing to see them. I couldn’t wait. When I saw John he ran up to me and gave me a big hug.

“Sean went all shy at first, but after a few moments we had a big cuddle.”

Jackie is currently arranging Joe’s funeral, which will celebrate the man who she said was “her whole world”.

The service will take place at Tynemouth Cemetery at 11am on Friday next week. A STREET brawl involving a woman holding a baby is being investigated by police.

At around 3pm on Tuesday, a 26-year-old woman told police she had been assaulted by a woman she knew on Stalks Road in Brunswick, Newcastle.

The victim was holding a one-year-old baby boy, who was not injured, when the assault took place.

Neither of the women were seriously injured but an investigation into the fight itself is ongoing, and police are now appealing for witnesses.

Anyone who was in the area of Stalks Road on Tuesday afternoon and saw what happened is asked to get in touch with Northumbria Police.

Anyone with any information should contact detectives by calling 101, quoting log 591 11/12/18, or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.