Cruel death of Shipley ‘grandmother to everybody’

The 84-year-old widow, who was found with multiple stab wounds at the home she shared with her grandson, was “everybody’s grandma”, said a neighbour.

Neighbour Doreen Dunne, 71, broke down in tears as she spoke.

“She was a lovely lady who wouldn’t hurt a fly. What happened makes me angry inside, it makes me hurt.”

The discovery of her body in the bedroom of her semi-detached house in Prospect Mount came just hours after a nine-year-old boy was stabbed in a nearby skate park.

Witnesses described how the youngster was injured in an apparently random attack and left covered in blood.

The attack in the park came without warning and for no reason, police said.

Lisa Lacey said her son, Eli, 18, saw the boy being stabbed and chased his attacker.

Describing the incidents as “a nightmare”, the grandmother said: “My son was in the park. A little lad, nine years old, came running up to him saying, ‘Eli, I’ve been stabbed’.

“He was holding his hand and blood was pouring out all over.

“Eli saw the lad so he set chase, chased him over Carr Lane way but lost him because it’s fields over the top.

“There were police all over. We still didn’t know the full extent of what had gone off.”

Mrs Lacey said she heard a noise at Mrs Denby’s house and thought the pensioner’s home was being broken into but it was the police.

She added she was distraught when she realised her neighbour had died. “I just broke down. I was sobbing... sobbing.

“She was everyone’s grandma. She was a lovely lady – just the type of person you want for your nana. She didn’t harm anyone. She was always in her garden, she loved it.

“For something to happen on your own doorstep like this, it’s a nightmare. You just don’t believe it.

“I’m in shock that someone could hurt an old lady – she was an old lady, for God’s sake.”

Mrs Denby’s next-door neighbour, Jackie Smith, said: “She was such a good neighbour and she was really respected down this road.

“She was my husband’s school teacher and then, when she moved in, she’d say, ‘Hiya, Michael, I remember you’. She was absolutely lovely.”

Mrs Smith said she got increasingly worried by the police activity and then heard officers break down her neighbour’s door.

She said Mrs Denby had lived at the address for about 23 years, and her mother lived there before her.

“I just can’t believe it. It’s just awful,” she added.

David Jacobs, who lives nearby, said: “I know the little boy because he plays with my son. It’s tragic.

“He’s a very nice, normal lad who likes to play on his scooter and at the park and play on his bike.

“You can’t understand why someone’s done that to a little lad like that.”

Mr Jacobs said the incidents had upset many local families. “People are scared to let their kids out. They’re all going to keep them in tonight. You think, ‘Is it safe any more?’”

Outside Mrs Denby’s house two bunches of flowers had been placed against the wall. A note on one read: “Rest in peace Mrs Denby. Sadly missed by all, Lisa.”

Police chiefs reassured people they had made five arrests and were not looking for anyone else in connection with the stabbings.

Bishop of Bradford Nick Baines urged residents not to keep their families away from the city’s parks and open spaces – which would leave them open for crime to fester.

“This is a tragic intrusion into ordinary life of a local community,” he said. “The thoughts and prayers of our churches will be with the bereaved and with the young lad and his family and friends.

“Society is normally very safe but this sort of violence should not change the way we live. This emphasises the need for good neighbourliness.

“These things make us feel very insecure but it should not. If you abandon the parks and the streets you created the circumstances in which violence happens. We need to populate them.”