A woman and her teenage son have been stabbed to death after reportedly taking the man charged with their murder into their home. Tracey Wilkinson, 50, and her son Pierce, 13, died in the attack in Stourbridge, West Midlands, while husband Peter, 47, remains in critical condition.
The family is believed to have answered the door to a man at around 8am on Thursday morning. Aaron Barley, 23, has been charged with two counts of murder and one of attempted murder after allegedly taking Mr Wilkinson's Land Rover and crashing it during a police chase.
Neighbours described the couple as "good Samaritans" with "hearts of gold" who had offered sanctuary to a young homeless man with drug problems around Christmas 2015. Mrs Wilkinson, who reportedly overcame her own alcohol issues, invited the man to stay in their £600,000 home and later set him up in a flat 30 miles away.
Friends said Mr Wilkinson gave the man a job in his safety barrier business, but the addict fell back into drug dependency and continued to ask for money. Mrs Wilkinson worked as a volunteer at a centre for people with drug and alcohol addiction.
Pierce was a pupil at Redhill School in Stourbridge, where headteacher Stephen Dunster described him as "a loyal, caring and conscientious pupil" who was passionate about West Bromwich Albion and devoted to his pet greyhound.
Police Superintendent Lee Kendrick said the attack was "horrific and heart-breaking" and confirmed the suspect was known to the family and may have been living at the address. Barley, of no fixed address, is due to appear before Birmingham magistrates charged with murder and attempted murder.
