An inquest has opened into the death of a man who fatally stabbed his 82-year-old grandmother in her own home.

John Squires, a refuse collector, of Bright Ridge in Southborough, near Tunbridge Wells, died in St George’s Hospital in London on September 3.

Days earlier, at around 11pm on August 31, police were called to a house where he lived with his gran, Sandra Squires, after neighbours reported sounds of a disturbance.

They found Mrs Squires in the garden, bleeding from a wound in her neck.

She was treated by paramedics but they could not save her and she was officially pronounced dead at 12.27am on September 1, which would have been her 83rd birthday.

Police found John, 24, inside.

He also had wounds to his neck.

He was arrested on suspicion of murder and taken to St George’s where he underwent an operation on his wounds, which ultimately proved unsuccessful.

The family’s dog, Buster, a lurcher cross Staffordshire bull terrier, had also been stabbed, and later had to be put down by vets.

John was born in Bournemouth, in Dorset, and had come to Kent with his family at the age of nine.

Coroner Roger Hatch adjourned the inquest to a full hearing on February 26 next year at midday at the Coroners’ Court at Oakwood House in Maidstone.

Speaking outside the court, John’s sister Kia Squires, 25, from Tunbridge Wells, told KentOnline that the siblings had lost their mum in 2008 when they were still children and their dad died of pneumonia in January this year.

She said that on the morning of the attack she had seen John, and while he appeared to be angry, she said: “There was no indication he was going to do something like this.”

That evening, Ms Squires had spoken to her nan at around five past nine and had told her that if her brother’s behaviour was making her feel unsafe, she should call the police.

At around 10pm, she received messages from John telling her he was “sorry”, but she said this type of message was common when he was in a bad state.

She called him and he said he was really sad and asked to be left alone.

At 4.30am the next day, Kia received a knock at the door from the police informing her of the incident.

The mother of three young children - Oliver, seven, Carlena, five, and Arthur, one - Ms Squires said she could never forgive her brother for taking away “the best nan”.

She said: “She was the best nan. I couldn’t fault her. She always had boxes of chocolate and toys for my children.

“Everybody loved her and the way she carried on after losing her husband.”

Mrs Squires was a widow. Her late husband, William Squires, a retired postman, died in 2013.

Ms Squires said: “I don’t condone what John has done, but the John he turned into is not the John that I’m grieving.

“The John that I’m grieving is the John that I lost many years ago.”

She said that the death of their father had sent her younger brother into a “downward spiral” and said he had already been suffering with mental health issues and problems with drugs and alcohol.

She said John found it “harder to cope”.

The police are not looking for anyone else in connection with the deaths.