A heartbroken mum has paid tribute to her 'Jack the Lad' son who was loved by everyone.
Joanne Stokoe was given the devastating news her son, Alan, 26, had suffered fatal injuries after being stabbed the day before his birthday.
The tragedy unfolded in the early hours of the morning on Melville Street, Chester-le-Street on July 21.
Joanne, 47, said: "He was always a cheeky little thing. Three weeks before he died, he said: 'You're not my mam, you're my best friend'.
"He was such a generous person and a proper Jack the Lad. He was a clown. He was a beautiful boy and so generous.
"Whenever you were around him, he'd have you laughing and joking.
"He had such a laugh, a nervous laugh, if he did anything wrong, he would laugh. He wasn't doing it nastily, he just didn't know what to do. He was brilliant.
"Everyone you speak to says he was a lovely, lovely lad."
Alan had a young son, Jacob, six, a brother, Connor, 22, and sister Katie, 16, and was protective of his family.
"Katie was his baby girl and always looked after her," she said. "He was brilliant and was protective of her. He was very protective of me as well. He was a mama's boy and knew it.
"He was everything to me - absolutely everything."
On the night of his death, Joanne said he'd tired to ring her but sadly she missed the call.
She said: "He rang me at 2.01am to speak to me, but I never heard it because I was asleep. He died at 2.04am.
"They took my 26-year-old boy and it was his birthday the next day. I had to visit him in the morgue on his birthday."
Alan, who worked for MSW Developments and Construction, also had a stint in the Army and was in the Royal Engineers for a number of years.
She said: "He was amazing. He was terrified of heights. There was an Army recruitment video and he is in it, he is up a height and you can see he's terrified of heights."
On Friday, loved ones gathered to say goodbye to their much loved friend at Ropery Lane Catholic Church in Chester-le-Street.
Joanne said the death her son had been really, really hard.
She said: "I can't live without him. He was my first born and best friend.
"I can't thank the air ambulance staff, who worked on him for an hour, enough."
After a large scale police investigation, a 42-year-old man was charged with murder.
- Mohammed Rahman, 42, is due to appear at Newcastle Crown Court on August 23
