The daughter of a woman stabbed to death by her estranged husband has spoken of her shock when she found her in a pool of blood in her home.

Harry Turner inflicted 78 knife injuries when he met up with Sally for a coffee on the morning of her death before heading to her daughter’s home in Durham hand-in-hand.

Jurors at Teesside Crown Court were shown CCTV footage of the final movements of Mrs Turner before tracing the steps of the defendant as he returned to the area of the coffee shop in a change of clothing.

The 54-year-old messaged his wife’s daughter, Ronnie Beamish, to tell her where he was after she turned up at her home to find her mother dead.

Read more: Man accused of murdering his estranged wife was 'suicidal', court hears

CCTV captured her walking to meet her step-father before he turned around and headed back to the rear of the Iceland shop where he was arrested at around 1pm.

In police interview, Miss Beamish said that after she found her mother, she closed the door again and walked to Iceland to confront the defendant.

She said: “I opened the door and saw mam on the floor and closed the door.”

When asked what she saw, the daughter said: “Mam was by the front door. She was just lying there not moving or anything.”

“I saw mam and blood was on the floor. She was in the middle of the porch.”

The Northern Echo: Sally TurnerSally Turner

Telling the officers what happened next, she said: “I was so angry I just stormed off. I didn’t plan to meet him. I didn’t expect him to still be there.”

She asked him: “What have you done?” The daughter said: "He was saying 'Mum will be OK.'

"I said, 'No she is not, she has got blood all over her.' I was saying to him, 'What have you done?'

"He wasn't acknowledging anything.

“'He said, ‘We had a little argument and had a little fight.'"

Miss Beamish said: “You have had more than a little fight.”

A number of text messages between the former couple were read out to jurors including ones that were sexually explicit.

The Northern Echo: Police at the scene where Sally Turner was stabbed to deathPolice at the scene where Sally Turner was stabbed to death

Earlier in the trial the jury heard evidence from a taxi driver, who was having an affair with Mrs Turner, about how he picked up her disabled granddaughter to take her to and from school.

Philip Smith said he became concerned when Sally failed to come out of the house to pick up her disabled granddaughter and learned she was laid in a pool of blood.

“I knew something was a matter but I didn’t want to see,” he said. “I heard (her daughter) say, ‘she’s on the floor, there’s blood all over.

“I know I’m a coward but I didn’t want to see anything.

“I phoned 999 and coppers came from everywhere, and one jumped over the wall and went straight into the door.”

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And jurors heard how Turner’s colleagues had raised concerns about the possibility of him committing suicide and referred him to a counselling service offered by his employer.

Turner, of Tiree Close, Brandon, denies murder but has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

The trial continues.