Tributes paid to mum who was stabbed in her flat

Loved ones of a mum who was murdered when she was stabbed 11 times in the neck have paid tribute to a "lovely and kind woman".

Mandy Riley was killed by her "friend" Thomas Turner in her flat at Harriet Tubman House in Normanton, Derby, on 4 June 2025.

The pair had been drinking and smoking at the flat when Turner repeatedly stabbed her after she refused to give him money.

After Turner was jailed for life with a minimum term of 28 years, Riley's daughter Tinisha said she was glad her mum had "got the justice she truly deserves".

"She was a lovely and kind woman who did not deserve what happened to her," she said.

"She was beautiful inside and out with a gentle soul and a warm smile.

"Mum mostly kept to herself and never went looking [for] trouble.

"Drugs did not define who she was - they were a coping mechanism for the pain she had experienced. She always tried to keep that side of her life away from others.

"She was her own person, with her own thoughts and dreams and she was turning her life around into the life she wanted.

"Mum was a family person at heart. Even when she spent a lot of time on her own, she still loved and cared about her family deeply."

Riley's body was discovered the morning after the killing when a friend who was due to take her for a medical appointment became concerned about her failure to respond to phone calls.

Turner, 64, of Uttoxeter New Road in Derby, was arrested later that day.

He was found guilty following a trial at a crown court hearing in Loughborough, and was sentenced at Lincoln Crown Court on Tuesday.

Riley's sister Wendy said the family would never come to terms with her death.

"She will always be so missed by her daughters, sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, son-in-law, lots of close friends and people who knew her," she said.

"She was one of a kind with a big heart and lots of love to give.

"Mandy might not be with us any more in person, but she will be in our hearts forever."

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