Triple murder probe after family of four is found dead
The man’s body was found lying with the children at 5pm on Monday and the body of the boys’ mother was found 54 minutes later after police received a call.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “Police were called to South Road, Twickenham, following concerns raised about the welfare of the occupants.
“A woman, believed to be aged in her 40s, was found dead at the scene with stab injuries.
“Detectives quickly sought to establish the welfare of her husband, aged 57, and two children aged seven and 10, and carried out a number of urgent inquires.
“Just before 5pm Sussex Police discovered the bodies of a man and two young boys at Birling Gap seafront, Eastbourne, East Sussex, and later contacted the Met.
“While formal identification awaits, police believe they are the deceased woman’s immediate family.”
A family car was recovered near the cliff edge and forensics officers searched the Twickenham home in an effort to piece together the tragic sequence of events.
The investigation is being led by officers from the Met’s homicide and Two boys and a man of 57 are thought to have fallen 250ft from Beachy Head major crime command supported by Sussex Police.
Post-mortem examinations have yet to take place but police said relatives had been informed.
Neighbours yesterday described the family as “pleasant” and happy.
Graphic designer and father-of-two Paul Warrington, 54, said he last saw the family around 10 days ago but heard nothing from them on Monday evening.
He was made aware of the mother’s death when police knocked on his door.
Mr Warrington described the family as “normal” and “pleasant and quiet”, saying he regularly heard the children as they played in the garden and there were no signs to make him suspicious.
“I last saw them about a week-anda-half ago. They are definitely European but I do not know if they are Polish or not,” he said.
“They were a pleasant and quiet family. I often heard the kids playing in the garden, screaming and shouting. One was older than the other.”
Mr Warrington added: “There was nothing untoward that would suggest anything like this.
“They had lived there for about a year, they were very normal. You never imagined something like this would happen.”