A HEARTBROKEN mother, whose daughter died after allegedly being stabbed with a Samurai sword then run over by a car, has lost her entire family in a year.

Carie Burns, 21, was taken to hospital at 6.30am last Friday after being found with stab wounds in Thomas Street, Blackhill, Consett, County Durham.

Her mother, Tracey Wilson, 40, who revealed that Carie was her only child, was widowed in August last year when her husband, Alan, died in a road accident. She also revealed that Carie had only moved to Consett four days before she died to get over the death of two close friends.

Mrs Wilson, of Grasmere Crescent, Kendal, Cumbria, said: "I loved her with all my heart and soul.

"Life has been cruel to this family, as my husband, Alan, was killed in a road accident less than nine months ago and now to have Carie so needlessly and suddenly taken away from me, I feel my heart is going to break. How much can one person take?

"Carie had been an absolute rock to me since Alan's death even though her own heart was breaking as she loved him very much."

Mrs Wilson said that the shock of her daughter's death had not yet sunk in.

She said: "She had a wicked laugh and a great sense of humour and was full of enthusiasm to live life to the full.

"In a word, she was a star. She had many friends and always tried to see the good in everyone.

"Carie always had itchy feet and was keen to travel and work away in different places, but she did not want to leave me on my own.

"But after the tragic deaths in quick succession recently of two of her closest friends, she felt she needed to get away and start afresh."

Mrs Wilson said Carie knew Consett well, staying with her aunt there as a child.

In the months leading up to her death, she met up with old friends in the town and had secured a job at a pub.

Mrs Wilson, the manager of an outdoor clothing and equipment store in Kendal, said: "When I spoke to her the day before she died, she sounded so happy.

"I keep asking myself, how can someone who was so looking forward to life have it taken away so cruelly?"

Hugh Penrose, 36, of Thomas Street, Blackhill, Consett, has been charged with Carie's murder.