A property developer has been charged with murdering his wife and their neighbour in a double stabbing in Birmingham.

Tamer Moustafa, 40, from Moseley, appeared in court on Wednesday accused of killing 43-year-old Nelly Moustafa and Zahida Bi, 52.

During a brief hearing at Birmingham magistrates court, the accused was remanded into custody to appear at the city’s crown court on Friday.

Police launched a double murder investigation after they were called to Belle Walk at about 11am on Monday. The suspect’s wife was found with fatal stab wounds and pronounced dead at the scene. Bi, their neighbour, died later in hospital from suspected knife injuries.

Postmortems were being carried out on Wednesday, West Midlands police said, as a cordon remained in place at both properties.

According to documents from Companies House, Moustafa resigned as a director of Black Rock Property Development in August last year, two years after founding the company from his home address.

On the same day last August he resigned from a second company, ALS Trade, an IT wholesaler that he founded in March 2018.

Residents told how the leafy suburban street was flooded with emergency services at about 10.30am on Monday.

DI Nick Barnes, from the homicide team at West Midlands police, said on Monday: “We’ve closed the area while forensic examinations are carried out and we’ve got specially trained officers supporting the families at this devastating time. Two women have lost their lives and we’re doing all we can to understand the circumstances of this tragedy.”