A “DEVOTED mum” who was brutally stabbed in her own home has died in hospital.

Leanne Meecham, 26, was attacked at her flat in Park Street, Westcliff, on February 13, suffering stab wounds to her throat and heart.

After being discovered by a neighbour at about 9.30am, she was airlifted to the Royal London Hospital, where she was placed in a medically-induced coma.

She died in hospital yesterday after what relatives described as a “heartbreaking” deterioration.

Tributes were left on Facebook at about 10pm last night to Ms Meecham, who family members had described as a “lovely girl” and “devoted mum.”

Sister Carly Bush wrote: “Goodbye my beautiful little sister I love you forever and we will look after your son.”

Ex-partner Simon Meecham, 46, was discharged from the Royal London Hospital yesterday afternoon, after suffering stab wounds to the chest, and taken into custody to be interviewed by detectives.

He had been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder about an hour after the attack on Ms Meecham , when police pulled over his Land Rover Discovery on Plas Newydd, Thorpe Bay.

The couple's three-year-old child is understood to have been in the car with Meecham at the time of his arrest. Police believe Meecham's wounds to have been self-inflicted.