A mother found strangled to death at her home was the 'loveliest person who never stopped smiling', a devastated friend said today.

The body of churchgoer Izzy Knight, 32, was discovered by police on Friday at the semi-detached home she shared in Northamptonshire with her husband Paul and their two young daughters.

Mr Knight, 35, an area sales manager for a pottery business, was later arrested and charged with his wife's murder.

The children - thought to be aged five and two - had been taken to school and nursery by a female relative that morning.

They were not at home when police arrived at the property in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire.