Youth held over stabbing death

Mark Smith collapsed outside a takeaway in Newcastle on Wednesday and later died in the city's General Hospital.

His grieving grandmother said on Thursday night the teenager had just landed his dream job and was turning his life around.

The dead boy was believed to have been struggling to make it home after he was stabbed in the street but collapsed outside the Spicy Solutions takeaway in Elswick Road. A 16-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of murder.

Although Mark had been issued with a two-year Anti-Social Behaviour Order by Newcastle magistrates last April, he was said to be trying to make a success of his life.

He had just secured a job as a mechanic, his 72-year-old grandmother Frances Cleminson said.

She told the Evening Chronicle newspaper: "We are devastated by this.

"He was a good lad who was like any other adventurous teenager. Mark was determined not to go on the dole and he had found his perfect job. He was so happy."

He leaves parents Margaret and Paul, brothers Paul, 27, and Darren, 19, and sisters Sara, 26, and Debra, 12.

The family were too upset to speak about the tragedy at their home in St John's Walk, on the other side of St John's Cemetery from where he collapsed.