Tributes paid to murdered sisters

Yasmine and Sabrina Larbi-Cherif, Algerian women who studied and worked in the UK, had lived in the flat in Birmingham's Ladywood since June.

The sisters, aged 22 and 19, whose family are believed to live in the Wembley area of north London, were discovered in the blood-drenched flat they shared on the Jupiter Apartments complex at around 5.40pm on Monday.

West Midlands Police have refused to formally identify the women, but an unnamed brother confirmed their identities to local media.

Yasmine, the older sister, was a keen dancer, leading classes in belly dancing in Birmingham, and a fellow dance teacher paid tribute to the "extremely decent" woman she knew.

Maria Credali, of Lichfield, said: "Yasmine was very kind, vibrant and very enthusiastic. She was really into the idea of sharing her culture with other ladies. She wanted to celebrate her background."

French Algerian Yasmine was a student, she said, but took a sabbatical to do voluntary work with women's groups. Yasmine taught dancing to adults, until she stopped teaching around a year ago, but was also "fantastic with kids".

Others who knew the sisters paid tribute to "two amazing individuals with bright futures ahead of them". Writing in a group set up on Facebook, Faraz Sayed wrote: "No-one should have gone through the fate they did. It's something you wouldn't wish to your worst enemy.

"Sabrina was a good friend, she was incredibly talented, she could sing well and play the guitar, and she was good at any sport imaginable."

Lul Hassan wrote: "It's deeply saddening to hear of this loss - two very beautiful people, one particularly close to my heart, and no words can describe what you meant to us."