Neighbours of a 37-year-old woman murdered in her home in a Norfolk village want to get a memorial bench so her children can come and remember her.
Police and emergency services were called to an address in Lake Close, Shipdham, shortly after 1.20pm on Sunday (August 1) following concerns for the safety of Malgorzata Lechanska.
Ms Lechanska was pronounced dead at the scene.
Rafal Winiarski, 39, of Lake Close, Shipdham, was last night charged with murder and was remanded in custody to appear at Norwich Magistrates Court today (Wednesday, August 4).
A post-mortem examination established Ms Lechanska died as a result of a severe head injury.
Police and forensic services remained at the scene on Tuesday where several bunches of flowers have been laid.
Shocked neighbours have told how they wanted to raise money for a memorial bench in memory of Ms Lechanska so her two children could remember her.
Nikita Bailey, 25, from Lake Close, whose daughter played with the victim’s youngest girl, who was six, said Ms Lechanska, who is understood to also have an older teenage daughter, "loved her garden".
She also planted fruit plants for the children in a nearby communal area "for the kids to go and pick".
Nikita said: "The neighbours are going to try and get a memorial bench and put it in that corner to remember her.
“I came up with the idea and we’re all just getting together and trying to do something for the kids and maybe put some flowers and a bench or something.
"What we want Is the bench to go in there for something for her children to go and remember her."
She said Ms Lechanska was a "caring" and "quiet" woman who "planted flowers for the community to see".
She said: “She loved her garden - she was always out there.
“She would chop up fruit for all the children to come and eat. “
She was a lovely lady - she put her hand up all the time and smiled.
“She was just one of those quiet people who didn’t say a lot really."
Nikita said her daughter played with Ms Lechanska's daughter and was very upset.
She said: "She (Ms Lechanska's daughter) used to come in the garden. She was very shy.
“It was lovely to see them playing together.
“When I told my daughter what happened she got well upset because she loved playing with her daughter.
“I just think it’s sad. It’s sad what’s happened."
Nikita described how she heard Ms Lechanska's youngest daughter had ran out of the house on Sunday before police arrived and was then taken in by a neighbour.
She said: "I heard she ran out over to the tree."
Stacie Nicholls, 21, who moved onto the estate in December last year and thinks Ms Lechanska moved In around the same time, said: “She was always outside doing her gardening - she loved her garden.
She said it was “quite scary” that the death happened "right on your doorstep”.
Other people living in the area have also described their shock at what happened.
Meanwhile, a 58-year-old man, who wanted to remain anonymous, described how armed police were called to the area on Sunday afternoon.
He said: “There was about 10 police cars here I think.
“They bashed the back door in."
Detective Inspector Lewis Craske, said: "We are looking for information from anyone who may have known Malgorzata or can help us with information around the circumstances leading up to her death.”
Information to police on 101 quoting crime reference 36/55532/21 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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