IT has been seven years since Horwich mum Sarah Melia was brutally murdered in her own home.

Now, on the anniversary of her death, her devastated mother is once again appealing for her daughter’s killer to hand themselves in and start to fill the “hole of grief" that her family has been left with.

Mother-of-two Ms Melia was found, covered in blood, at the bottom of the stairs at her home in Catherine Street West, Horwich, on January 14, 2008, by her daughter Meghan, who was 15 at the time.

She was horrified when she returned from school to find her mother had been stabbed to death.

Ms Melia’s brother, Mark Kitchen, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, was charged with her murder, but the trial collapsed twice and he was cleared by a jury after a third trial.

Ms Melia’s mother, Marion Kitchen, aged 61, said: “What we all had to go through as a family was just horrendous — Sarah’s death has left a huge hole of grief in our lives and we will never be able to lose sight of what happened.

“The years just roll on and on and we are no nearer now to knowing what happened to her than on the day she was killed — she cannot be at peace until justice is done and neither can we.”

She said her daughter’s life and legacy lives on with her children.

Meghan, who is now 23 and Ethan, who has just turned 18 both live with their dad, Stuart, in Harwood.

Mrs Kitchen added: “I see the kids regularly and we are in contact every day. They are both an absolute credit to them and she lives on through them — Meghan is like a mini-Sarah.”

The 61-year-old, who lives in Halliwell, said she will not stop appealing for information until her daughter’s killer has been punished.

She said: “Because Sarah was such a big part of our lives, the hole of grief is always there — we just hope that the killer is caught.

“Someone, somewhere out there knows something and however small a piece of information might be it could be the piece of the jigsaw that is needed to fit it all together.”

Martin Bottomley, the head of Greater Manchester Police 's cold case review unit, said: “We never close any case and we are still as determined as ever to bring Sarah’s killer to justice.

“What we need is a new piece of evidence that could allow us to reinvigorate the investigation — this could be some forensic evidence or even something that someone has overheard.

“It doesn’t have to amount to a full confession but just something to give renewed direction to the investigation.”

Anyone with information cam call GMP’s cold case unit on 0161 8565961 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.