Our shock over double murder of Wakefield girls

Kimberley Frank, 17, and Samantha Sykes, 18, were found at the flat on Barden Road, in the Eastmoor area of Wakefield, early on Saturday morning.

A 19-year-old man was being questioned on suspicion of their murders.

Today, the two-storey building on Barden Road, where Miss Frank lived, remained cordoned off and a police officer stood outside.

Scenes of crime officers in protective white suits could be seen entering and leaving the building, which contains six separate flats.

Bunches of flowers had been left on the steps to the flats and cards had been attached to the handrail.

One bouquet had a card, which read: “Sammy, we will miss you sooo much. You were a great friend and will never ever be forgotten. We’ll see you again one day. RIP.”

Another block of flats on the next road was also surrounded by police cordon tape this morning and a police officer stood at the main front door.

Neighbours said they believed Miss Frank’s sister and her boyfriend lived there.

Stephen Ryan, 25, of Linton Road, Wakefield, lives in a flat in the neighbouring block and said he would often see Miss Frank’s sister and boyfriend arguing.

“It seemed like quite a hostile relationship,” he said.

Mr Ryan said he did not know the women who died but occasionally saw them on the estate.

“I didn’t know them personally but I did know their faces, I saw them around quite a bit.

“They just looked like decent girls really. Just normal, everyday girls you see around this estate,” he said.

“It’s just a shock. You don’t expect something like this to happen so close to home. I feel sorry for the families of the girls and I think I speak for everybody when I say it is a shame.

“My girlfriend knows one of the girls and she’s in bits. She’s been saying how these lasses were nice girls and didn’t deserve it.”

A couple who live in a house across the road from where the bodies were found said there were often parties at the flats.

They said: “There’s always police vans out there, parties, loud music, all sorts of visitors, it’s happening all the time, every week from Friday to Sunday.”

Speaking about the deaths of the women, they said: “It’s awful. You don’t expect it, it’s frightening.”

Another neighbour, who also did not want to be named, said she did not think Miss Frank had lived in the flat for long.

She said: “It’s a shame, poor souls. It’s terrible, horrible. Never think it’s going to happen like this, not here anyway. It’s not very nice on your own doorstep.”

West Yorkshire Police said officers were contacted by Kent Police after a 19-year-old woman in Dover raised concerns for safety of the two women.

Officers went to the flat on Barden Road and discovered the bodies of Miss Frank and Miss Sykes, of California Drive, Horbury, West Yorks.

Two men, aged 19 and 23, and a 19-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of murder by Kent Police but the woman and the 23-year-old man were later released without charge.

The 19-year-old man is still being questioned by detectives.

A post-mortem examination revealed the women died from stab wounds.