Man, 51, had to phone police in Brighton instead and has since been arrested over fatal stabbing of Jillian Howell, 46

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A murder suspect tried to hand himself in at a police station but had to phone officers instead because the front desk was closed.

The 51-year-old arrived at the building in Brighton at 6am on Thursday, only to find the counter – where the public report crime – was not open until 8am.

He then phoned 999 while standing outside and officers later found the body of Jillian Howell, a 46-year-old Samaritans volunteer, at a house in Sandgate Road.

She had been stabbed multiple times and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

In a statement, her family said: “Jill was a kind, gentle and loving sister, auntie and friend. We are shocked and heartbroken by her loss.

“She touched many lives in her volunteer work and was always helping others. She loved to travel, was a passionate Brighton and Hove Albion fan and season ticket holder. She lived life to the fullest and was dearly loved by her friends and family.”

On Friday afternoon police said the suspect, from Seaford in East Sussex, remained in custody and a postmortem was due to be carried out.

A Sussex police spokesman said: “The man called 999 from outside the police station in John Street, Brighton, which is operational 24 hours a day.

“The time from when officers were deployed to when they were with the man was less than a minute. The front desk of the station was not open at the time that the man called, but this would not have made any difference to the response time.”