Murder police retrace last steps

The family have provided police with CCTV footage

Detectives investigating the murder of a man whose body was found on a Tyneside street have been piecing together his final journey.

Lee Phipps, 31, was found with stab wounds in South Shields on 2 March.

Police have said the attack on Mr Phipps, whose mother has Somali roots, could have been racially-motivated.

They said his family provided footage taken from their own CCTV cameras, which were installed after complaints to police of racially-motive incidents.

The shots include Mr Phipps leaving his house at 1616 GMT on Thursday carrying his camera bag. He was going to photograph snow on hills near his home.

Mr Phipps is seen leaving the house, turning left on to King George Road and walking towards the roundabout with Sunderland Road.

The footage shows Mr Phipps leaving the house

Police believe he then turned left on to what is known locally as the "ash path" and would have travelled east to where it meets Sunderland Road. He would have crossed Sunderland Road and rejoined the path towards Cleadon Hills.

Officers have walked the route from Mr Phipps' home to where he was found dead in Cleadon Hill Road and it took about 13 minutes.

He took a call from his mother on his mobile phone at 1616 GMT and police think it was likely he was stabbed shortly after that call. He was found dead at 1720 GMT.

Det Supt Steve Wade said: "I would like to repeat appeals for people to come forward.

"Although we think we know which route Lee travelled we still haven't been able to locate precisely where he was when he was attacked."