THREE people will today appear in court charged with two separate fatal stabbings while other murder investigations across the region last night continued.

Two people remain in police custody following the death of father-of-two David James Scott, 33, after he was found with stab wounds in the back lane of Rose Avenue in Stanley at around 1.30am on Sunday.

Mr Scott, a single man who lived with his mother in South Stanley, died in Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary from his injuries.

A man and a woman arrested on suspicion of murder are being questioned as police renew their appeal for witnesses to come forward.

One man was arrested and later released on bail pending further inquiries.

Mr Scott was unemployed and father to a girl aged six and a boy aged five.

In a separate incident in South Shields, David Arthur Charlton was killed as he walked home from the Last Orders pub with his girlfriend.

He sustained stab wounds when he was set upon at around 10.36pm on Friday at the junction of Stanhope Road and Boldon Lane in South Shields.

He was taken to South Tyneside District Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Keith Honeyman, 19, of Alice Street, South Shields, and a 15-year-old from South Shields, who cannot be named for legal reasons, have been charged with murder.

Both will appear before South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court today.

Two men, aged 24 and 31, who were arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender are currently on police bail.