Police probe horrific murder of Scottish grandmother

Detectives in Scotland were today questioning residents of a tower block where a grandmother was violently murdered in her home.

Hannah Smith, 63, was the victim of a “sustained, prolonged and vicious” attack, police said.

Her body was discovered by officers who forced their way into her Glasgow home after her granddaughters raised the alarm.

Detectives believe the killer may have been soaked in blood as they fled the flat in Soutra Place in the Cranhill area of the city.

Police would not confirm reports that Mrs Smith had been slashed and stabbed.

Investigators have yet to establish a motive for the attack on the widow, who lived alone in the tower block.

Officers have been trying to piece together her last movements and have been carrying out door-to-door inquiries.

Detectives will visit every flat in the high-rise block in a bid to find clues to the brutal murder

Mrs Smith’s family spoke to her at around 7pm on Christmas Day when she appeared “cheery”.

But her granddaughters were unable to contact her on December 26 or each of the subsequent days and they went to the police with their concerns.

She was eventually found in her fourth-floor home on Monday evening. Officers had to break in to get entry.