Boy, 15, on schoolboy murder charge

The youngster, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was also charged with the attempted murder of a 26-year-old man who was also injured in the attack on a Blackpool council estate, Lancashire Police said.

Sam died from a single stab wound to the chest in the attack at 4am on Monday, just yards from his home in Cockerham Walk on the Grange Park estate in Blackpool, Lancs. Sam was due to start his GCSEs the day after he was stabbed to death.

A spokesman for Lancashire Police said: "We have now charged a 15-year-old boy with the murder of Sam Brown and the attempted murder of the 26-year-old injured in the incident. He will appear at Blackpool Magistrates' Court (on Saturday)."

The spokesman said a woman, believed to be the boy's mother, has been released without charge.

A third person, a male, is still being questioned. He is understood to be from Blackpool and related to the mother and son, and was arrested in Manchester on Tuesday night.

Sam, described by neighbours as a "decent lad" was a pupil at St Mary's Catholic College in the resort. He had recently taken a part-time job in a supermarket and was hoping to train as a plumber after sitting his GCSEs.

He lived with his mother, Pat, aged in her 40s, and two brothers, Joe, in his 20s, and Harry, 13.

Neighbours fought to save him with mouth-to-mouth and chest compressions but he was dead by the time paramedics arrived.

Sam's death was the latest in a string of stabbings across Britain that have claimed the lives of teenagers over recent months.