Blackpool Stab Death: Teen 'Received Threat'

A 16-year-old girl whose body was found burning in an alley had recently received a death threat in an email, a friend of the teen has told Sky News.

Sasha Marsden's body was set on fire after she had died from stab wounds to the head and face, a post-mortem examination has found.

Herr friend, Stephanie Kyle, told Sky News of a threat received by Sasha, which she said police had been told about.

"She got an email saying her time was going to come very soon," she said.

"Obviously this happened, and she's gone and ... we don't know why."

Police cordoned off the area in South Shore, Blackpool, after her body was discovered at 9pm on Thursday.

A 22-year-old man was arrested nearby and police have been granted more time to question him.

A woman aged 20 was also held but later released without charge.

A police spokesman said: "Following the death of Sasha Marsden, a Home Office post-mortem examination has been carried out and has found that Sasha died as a result of receiving significant stab wounds to the head and face.

"It also showed that attempts were made to set the body on fire and this was after Sasha had died.

"The results have been shared with the family, and specially trained officers are continuing to support them."

On Friday, crime scene investigators carried out forensic searches of the alley behind Kirby Road and at the Grafton House bed-and-breakfast hotel on the same road, which is a few streets off the Promenade.

Carl Evans, owner of the nearby Kimber Guest House, told Sky News he spotted the fire when he walked out into his back garden on Thursday evening.

"I heard the alarms going and saw the smoke, but I thought it was just someone burning rubbish," he said.

He added that some residents had attempted to put out the flames before realising it was a body on fire.

"The lass two doors up said someone seemed to have put something out - like a mannequin - but it turned out to be the body of a 16-year-old girl."

Sasha was in the first year of a childcare course at Blackpool and The Fylde College and lived with her parents in nearby Staining.

Paying tribute, Mandy Pritchard, head of the college's school for society, health and childhood, said she was "a friendly, considerate individual who cared about her fellow students".

Numerous tributes were paid to the youngster on a Facebook page set up in her memory.