A MAN has admitted the brutal murder of a tragic mother-of-three.

Marcel George Allan, 42, stabbed Lisa Marie Leckenby to death in her home at Tenth Street, Blackhall, County Durham, on August 8.

Police said the the killing was brutal and sustained.

At Newcastle Crown Court yesterday Allan, of the same address, pleaded guilty to murder.

He will be sentenced on November 13.

No further details of the killing were given at the hearing, which lasted just minutes.

Judge Esmond Faulks remanded Allan into custody and warned: "As you will have been told there is only one sentence a judge can pass.

"There will, however, be an issue as to how long you should serve of the mandatory life sentence".

Lisa's murder was the latest in a long line of tragedies to hit her troubled family.

The 28-year-old is the sister of Shaun Leckenby, who at 18 was convicted of murdering their father Ronald in 2006.

Ronald, who was 45 when he was stabbed to death at his home in Castletown, Sunderland, had previously been jailed for four-and-a-half years for the manslaughter of his brother Christopher, 28, following a family argument.

Christopher, who was stabbed with a kitchen knife, had been involved in an incestuous relationship with Lisa which began when she was 17.