Floral tributes have been laid after a man and three young children were found dead in a house in Surrey.
Police discovered their bodies in a property in Bremer Road, Staines-upon-Thames, at about 1.15pm on Saturday. Neighbours said they believed a young Polish family with twins lived at the house, and that the three children were all boys.
Surrey police confirmed that the three children, all under four, were related to the man. One floral tribute left outside the house on Sunday read: “Rest in peace, little ones. We will always think of you.”
An investigation is being carried out to establish the circumstances of their deaths, though police believe it was an isolated incident with no third-party involvement.
The children’s mother and their next of kin are aware and being supported by specialist officers.
DCI Gareth Hicks who is leading the investigation, said: “This is a truly tragic incident and a thorough investigation is under way to establish exactly what happened.
“We would like to thank the local community for their support and understanding while we have been conducting our inquiries. We can also now update that while Bremer Road was closed for a significant amount of time yesterday. It has now fully reopened and there will continue to be a police presence in the area for the foreseeable.”
Shehr Sikandari, who lives next-door to the victims, told Metro that he heard “horrific screams” shortly before the police arrived. “It is unbelievable and traumatic, what we have heard,” he told the newspaper. “We are still in shock. Three lovely children – we have seen them playing.
“They were full of life. They often used to go for a walk in the park or a stroll. The woman, she was screaming. They were quite horrific screams and everyone came out to see what was happening.”
Postmortems and formal identification will take place in due course. Surrey police has also completed a mandatory referral to the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct, due to previous police contact with those involved.
An IOPC spokesperson said: “We have been notified by Surrey police about the tragic incident in Spelthorne. We will be assessing a referral from the force to decide whether any action is required by the IOPC.”
Source: theguardian.com
