THE family of Tommy Oakes, who was found inside a home in Newton-le-Willows last week, have issued a tribute.

Police received a report that a 46-year-old man had been found unresponsive at a house on Barnett Avenue, in Earlestown shortly after 2pm on Sunday, February 4.

He was taken to hospital where he was sadly confirmed dead later in the afternoon. His next of kin have been informed and a post-mortem will take place to establish the cause of death.

Paying tribute to Tommy, his family said: "Tommy Oakes was a loving son, dad, brother, partner, uncle and friend. Tommy lived a life full of love, laughter, fishing and music.

St Helens Star:

"After his family, DJing is what he loved most and everyone that knew him knew he had an ear for a good tune and could bring a smile to the face of anyone that had the pleasure of meeting him during his 46 years of life.

"He will be remembered for always cracking jokes and making light of any situation. He was, and will forever be, cherished by his three children, partner and siblings and will be deeply missed by all his family."

Two women from Newton-le-Willows, aged 52 and 27, were arrested on suspicion of murder and released on bail pending further enquiries.

Detective Inspector Jimmy Rotheram said: “Our thoughts first and foremost are with the man’s family following this unexpected tragic incident.

“An investigation remains underway in the area and our officers are in the early stages of establishing exactly what happened.

“While we have already made two arrests, our specialist officers remain at the scene as we carry out forensic examinations and review any CCTV footage in the area.

“If you live on Barnett Avenue and have any doorbell or CCTV footage from around 2pm on Sunday 4 February that may have captured what happened or heard anything suspicious, then please get in touch with us so we can continue our enquiries.”

Anyone who has any information on this incident is asked to contact @MerPolCC on Twitter or ‘Merseyside Police Contact Centre’ on Facebook or call 101 with the reference 24000145442.

You can also call Crimestoppers, anonymously on 0800 555 111, or their online form at https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/forms/give-information-anonymously.