Mother of four stabbed to death along with partner warned police of threats
Man, 34, in custody after mental health nurse and boyfriend found dead at her Huddersfield home
A MOTHER of four and her new partner have been stabbed to death days after she warned police she had been threatened.
Katie Higton, 27, a mental health nurse, and Steven Harnett, 25, were found at Ms Higton’s house on Harpe Inge, Dalton, on Monday with injuries believed to have been inflicted by a bladed weapon.
Officers are holding a 34-year-old Huddersfield man under arrest on suspicion of the murder of the pair, who were confirmed to have died at the scene. Ms Higton’s two eldest daughters, aged nine and 10, were in the house during the attack, according to her brother-in-law, who asked not to be named.
She is understood to have contacted the police days before she was killed about alleged threats she had received.
West Yorkshire Police have referred themselves to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) for investigation over their “contact with [the three] parties involved prior to the incident”.
Yesterday the former brother and sister-in-law of Ms Higton said the family was “absolutely devastated” as they placed flowers on behalf of her two eldest children at the scene.
Ms Higton’s brother-in-law said his brother had been in a relationship with Ms Higton for seven years and was the father of her two oldest daughters.
He described her as “bubbly, outgoing, fun” and “a great mum”.
Ms Higton had four children, the youngest of whom is believed to be six months old.
Several active inquiries by the West Yorkshire Police’s homicide and major inquiry team remain ongoing.
The street was still cordoned off on yesterday morning, with five police cars still at the scene.
A resident from the street behind Harpe Inge said: “I knew it was serious, with the air ambulance and the forensics. They were out all day.”
A card left with flowers at the scene said: “RIP my darling. We love you. No more suffering.”
Another said: “I am so sorry for how things have ended.”
Scott I’anson, who lives on Harpe Inge, said he did not know Ms Higton but had seen her and her children.
“They kept to themselves but a lot of people liked them,” he said.
“It’s quite a big family street.” An IOPC spokesman said: “We have received a mandatory referral from West Yorkshire Police linked to the suspected murder of two people in Huddersfield. This is due to the fact officers had contact with both victims, and a man who has since been arrested on suspicion of murder, in the days prior to this tragic incident.”