Sadie Hartley stabbing: Woman in court on murder charge Published duration 20 January 2016

image copyright Lancashire Police image caption Police believe Sadie Hartley died on Thursday evening

A woman has appeared in court accused of murdering a businesswoman who was found stabbed at her home.

Sadie Hartley, 60, was discovered with multiple stab wounds at her house in Rossendale, Lancashire on Friday night.

Sarah Williams, 34, of Treborth Road, Blacon, Chester, appeared before magistrates in Blackburn.

She spoke to confirm her name, address and date of birth and was remanded in custody to appear at Preston Crown Court on 22 January.

image caption Emergency services were called to Sunny Bank Road in Helmshore on Friday night

Lancashire Police said a second woman, aged 55, who was arrested on Monday, is still being questioned.

Mother-of-two Ms Hartley was found at her home in Sunny Bank Road, Helmshore, at about 22:40 GMT.

image copyright Lancashire Police image caption Ms Hartley's partner Ian Johnston said she would be "sadly missed"

Ms Hartley, who was director of her own medical communications business Hartley Taylor, based in Knutsford, Cheshire, was last seen alive on Thursday at a conference in Manchester.

Detectives are continuing to appeal for help tracing several people seen near her home on Thursday evening, including the driver of a passing car.

Paying tribute, Ms Hartley's partner Ian Johnston said: "It is an utter tragedy that she has been taken so unnecessarily from us and will be sadly missed by all those who knew her."