Stabbed teenager 'due to sit GCSEs'

Sam Brown finished school last week and had taken up a part-time job in a supermarket, before starting his exams and hoping to go to college to train as a plumber.

But he suffered a single stab wound to his chest outside the family home he shared with his mother, Pat, in her 40s, and two brothers, Joe, in his 20s and Harry, 13.

Desperate neighbours tried to save him with mouth-to-mouth and chest compression seconds after the attack at 4am on Cockerham Walk, on the sprawling Grange Park council estate in Blackpool, Lancashire, but he was dead by the time paramedics arrived.

A 28-year-old man was also knifed in the incident, Lancashire Constabulary said. He is in a stable condition at Blackpool Victoria Hospital and his injuries are not described as serious.

Murder squad detectives are also looking for a third person in relation to the attack, but gave no further details.

Neighbours described Sam as a "decent young lad" who would run errands to the local shops for them. The Liverpool-mad youngster would play football on the green outside his home where he was fatally stabbed to death.

Sam was a pupil at St Mary's RC High School, half a mile from his home, where pupils will start their English exams on Tuesday.

The family home has now been cordoned off with police standing guard outside as scenes of crime officers in white boiler suits carry out a thorough investigation.

Detective Chief Inspector Neil Esseen, who is leading the investigation, said: "We've launched a murder investigation and are appealing for any witnesses who may have seen anything to come forward."