Son charged with double murder after pensioner couple are killed at home
A MAN appeared in court charged with two murders yesterday after his parents died at their home.
Retired nurse Mary Andrews, 76, and husband Bryan, 79, a former builder, were found critically injured by emergency services but could not be revived.
James Andrews, 51, was remanded in custody by Sheffield magistrates and is due to appear at the city’s crown court today.
Details of how the couple died on Sunday have not yet been revealed. Police yesterday remained at the £500,000 home in Totley, Sheffield, as forensic examinations were carried out.
Mr and Mrs Andrews, who also had two daughters and grandchildren, had lived there for decades. It is believed they had not seen their son for some time and one of their daughters had passed on a message asking him to visit.
A neighbour said: ‘ It’s just shocking. I know they were concerned about the welfare of their son. They were a lovely couple – caring and popular.’ Last night a service was held for them at a local church. Among those placing flowers outside their home were Kevin and Maggie Maw, who lived on a neighbouring street.
Mr Maw said: ‘Bryan was the proverbial pillar of the community and so was Mary. They did anything for anyone.
‘He was a wonderful, good man, who everyone respected and people were very fond of – it is such a loss. Mary was the same. She did a lot for people.’
Mrs Maw added: ‘Such a feeling of shock has gone round the streets here. People are devastated. I still can’t believe it.
Fellow resident Liz Sutcliffe described Mrs Andrews as ‘the most beautiful caring nurse’. She said she was ‘totally shocked and deeply saddened’. Another neighbour, who had known the couple 20 years, said: ‘Bryan was a real man of the community. He used to get involved in snow clearing every year and was involved in the Totley Residents’ Association.’
Their son, believed to be a dog walker, lived alone in a housing association flat nearby. Neighbours said James Andrews, who had a hobby of wood turning, would often sit on his balcony reading books, but rarely talked to other residents. Vanessa Chishamba, 34, said: ‘He worked with animals – dog walking. He did not have a dog himself because we are not allowed pets.
‘In the summer, I heard him talking to his sister. She was telling him his parents were worried about him and he needed to go and see his mum and dad. He was refusing to go.’
Chief Superintendent Shelley Hemsley, of South Yorkshire Police, said: ‘Our thoughts remain with the families of the pair who have sadly lost their lives.’