The BBC's John Thorne: Jade's body was found just a few hundred yards from her home

Sharon Lester's body was found in her home in Kensington, Liverpool on 19 December last year and the corpse of her two-year-old daughter Jade was found on waste ground in the city the following day.

At an inquest in Liverpool on Wednesday deputy coroner Richard Murray heard a statement from Miss Lester's next-door neighbour and close friend Suzanne Moran.

Body under the stairs

Miss Moran said she found the 22-year-old's body in a cupboard under the stairs.

Two-year-old Jade: Dumped in bin liner

She said: "Sharon's mum and sister called at my house at 1.45pm and asked what had been going on next door. They had found blood all over the place."

The three women then went back into Miss Lester's house and noticed the television set and stereo were missing.

Miss Moran said she initially thought it was a simple burglary but she then noticed a blanket in a back room of the house which had fresh blood on it.

She said: "I then went to a cupboard under the stairs and pulled out a second blanket, which was also covered in blood.

Awful discovery

"I saw Sharon Lester's head fall to one side and I pushed her mum and sister out of the house. They did not see the deceased, I did not want them to see her."

Miss Moran said: "She looked as if she had had her throat cut."

The inquest into Miss Lester's death was adjourned to a date to be fixed later.

Mr Murray then opened an inquest into the death of Jade Lester, whose body was found next to the Jubilee Reservoir in nearby Everton.

Jade's uncle, Robert Lester, told the hearing he last saw his niece alive on 12 December and was given the task of identifying her body the day after it was found.

Her inquest was also adjourned.

Mr Murray said a full police inquiry was under way into both deaths.

John Park, 24, from Kensington, Liverpool has been charged with murdering the pair and has been remanded in custody until 19 January.