Pictured: Jillian Grant, 38, was found dead at a flat in North Shields on Monday
A woman who was found dead at a home where the bomb squad was called on Christmas Day has been named as Jillian Grant.
Detectives today are continuing to question a 41-year-old man on suspicion of murder.
Emergency services, including a bomb disposal unit and firefighters, were called to the flat in North Shields in North East England at around 1.30pm on Monday.
Officers later discovered the body and a 41-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder.
Northumbria Police has today named the woman as Jillian, who is from York Court in Wallsend.
Det Chief Insp Helen Anderson, who is leading the investigation, said Jillian’s family were now being looked after by police liaison officers.
She said: ‘Enquiries to establish the circumstances around Jillian’s death are ongoing and a 41 year old man remains under arrest in connection with the investigation. We believe those involved were known to each other. Jillian’s family are currently being supported by specialist liaison officers.
Police have arrested a 41-year-old man on suspicion of murder after they recovered the body of a woman from a house on Tennyson Terrace, North Shields, yesterday, pictured
Police requested support from the Royal Logistics Corps bomb squad yesterday
‘Police will continue to have a visible presence in the area around the address to reassure anyone who has any concerns and to carry out their own enquiries.’
Residents of Tennyson Terrace have described seeing forensic officers enter a flat on the road shortly before midnight.
One neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: ‘It was just a normal Christmas morning and then we saw the bomb squad on the street and police running all over the place and you just think ‘Oh God, what’s happened?’.
‘The bomb van was here until about 5pm and we thought that was probably the end of whatever had been happening.
‘But, at around midnight, my daughter woke me up and said police in white suits were going in and out of one of my neighbour’s houses.
‘I went out because I was concerned for the man who lives there and I was asking if he was alright. The police just told us to get back inside as it was a crime scene.
Nearby homeowners were evacuated from their houses until the scene was declared safe
‘I’ve known the man who lives in that house for nine years, he keeps himself to himself but he’s really canny. He’s quiet but nice.’
Another resident said: ‘There was quite a gap between the bomb team going and the forensics coming in.
‘Everyone was gobsmacked when they found out a body had been found. Nobody seems to know who the woman could be.
‘The police said there was nothing to worry about when the bomb squad were here but they haven’t said much since the forensics came. They’ve knocked on a few doors and asked people if they have seen or heard anything but nobody has.’
One woman, who lives on the street with her family, had just returned from celebrating Christmas Day at a relative’s when they saw the road flooded with police.
She said: ‘It’s not normally the kind of street where the police are called – it’s usually quite quiet.
‘It’s horrible to think someone has died on Christmas Day. We know the man who lives in the house but only to say hello to. He’s lived there a while.’
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