A husband and wife have been charged with murder after a woman was fatally stabbed at a hostel for the homeless in Sussex Street, Winchester, on Saturday night.

Police found the body of 38-year-old Valerie Ver'a-Tallett in a hallway at the bottom of a flight of stairs. Officers were called to the council-run bedsits at around 11.30pm after other residents reported hearing a domestic disturbance.

Mrs Ver'a-Tallett died from a single stab wound to the top of her leg which punctured a main artery.

Steven Lochead (30), a warehouse operator, and his 20-year-old wife, Kerry Lochead, have been charged with her murder.

Mrs Lochead, who is an unemployed mother-of-one, also faces a charge of grievous bodily harm with intent to wound, following an incident at the County Arms pub, in Romsey Road, Winchester, on Saturday evening.

The Locheads, who share a bedsit at the Sussex Street hostel, appeared before Basingstoke Magistrates on Wednesday. No bail application was made and they were remanded in custody to appear at Winchester Crown Court on Monday.

Mrs Ver'a-Tallett, who was separated from her Spanish husband, had lived at the hostel for almost a year, working as a volunteer at a home for people with learning difficulties. She is believed to have a daughter who lives in Italy, and a baby grand-daughter she had never seen.

One Sussex Street resident, who asked not to be named, said: "I've known Val since we moved in here and she was always running up to us and giggling over our baby. She was really nice, really bubbly."