Facebook picture of Marta Galikowska’s children Maja, five, and 18-month-old Olga (Picture: Facebook)

A mother stabbed her two daughters to death before turning the knife on herself, police believe.

Marta Galikowska, 27, was found dead alongside her two daughters Maja, five, and 18-month-old Olga.

Police discovered the three bodies at a semi-detached house in Stoke at about 6.30pm on Sunday, after being alerted by neighbours.

A 27-year-old man, believed to be Mrs Galikowska’s estranged husband Marcin, was arrested at the scene but released without charge on Monday.


Witnesses said they heard ‘a blazing row’ before the stabbings. The couple are understood to have separated before Christmas last year.

Residents living nearby say Maja was stabbed to death on her bed while Olga’s bloodied body was found with her mother in the bathroom.

Neighbours say that Marta would always smile while taking her daughter to school Picture: Facebook)

‘It’s so sad and upsetting, especially when you’ve got children of your own,’ said a 32-year-old neighbour. ‘It’s the children I feel for.’



A witness who lives near them heard a man shouting ‘they’re dead’, and another neighbour who is a nurse went in and tried to feel for a pulse.

Kelly Hughes, 31, said: ‘The woman walked past my house every day to take her daughter to school. She always smiled.’

Staffordshire Police are not looking for anyone else in connection with the deaths.

Mrs Galikowska, originally from Poland, moved to Stoke in 2010.