A woman has appeared in court accused of attempted murder after allegedly stabbing her friend 17 times.

The victim, Sarah Holden, was found with serious knife wounds at a flat in Dewsbury in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Shaunna Littlewood, 25, was before Kirklees Magistrates’ Court late this morning accused of attempting to murder her long-term friend.

Police were called to the property in Gladstone Court, a cul-de-sac off Staincliffe Road, at 4.30am.

The Huddersfield court heard that Miss Holden was found lying on a bed with 17 stab wounds.

Prosecutor Vanessa Jones said that some of these were extremely serious, including a stabbing to the sternum which pierced the lining of the victim’s heart.

She told magistrates that the 24-year-old remains gravely ill and sedated in hospital.

Littlewood, who gave her address as Gladstone Court, spoke quietly only to confirm her personal details.

Flanked in the glass dock by two security officers, she was told that her case must be heard at Leeds Crown Court.

She will first appear there on August 8 and magistrates remanded her in custody.