COURAGE OF STAB HORROR DAUGHTER
Lydia, 18, returns to home where mum & brother were killed
DESPITE unimaginable grief, Lydia Wilkinson bravely returns to the family home where her mother and younger brother were knifed to death.
The student, 18, left flowers for Tracey, 50, and Pierce, 13, and said yesterday: “Our family is devastated. They were extremely loved.” Her dad Peter, 47, was badly wounded in the attack in Stourbridge, West Mids, last week. Homeless Aaron Barley has been charged.
THE teenager whose mother and brother were stabbed to death in their home paid a moving tribute to her lost family yesterday.
Lydia Wilkinson, 18, was away at university when Tracey Wilkinson, 50, and Pierce, 13, were attacked at the family’s £600,000 property.
Dad Peter, who raised the alarm, was also knifed. The 47-year-old was found wounded in the back garden and last night remained in a serious but stable condition in hospital.
Homeless Aaron Barley, whom the family had helped in the past, was charged with two murders and attempted murder.
As she visited the scene of the deaths in Stourbridge, West Midlands, Lydia said: “Our family is devastated by the loss of Tracey and Pierce. They were extremely loved by all of their family and friends.
“Pierce was a fun-loving, friendly and happy boy, who loved computer games and made everyone smile. Tracey was loving, caring and a wonderful mother and daughter, always putting others before herself.” Confirming, her family knew the suspect, Lydia added: “The family did not provide refuge for homeless people and Aaron Barley had never lived at the home but had been assisted by the family in the past 12 months.”
She also thanked the emergency services and hospital staff.
After placing a bouquet of flowers, grieving Lydia, a student at Bristol University, was consoled by boyfriend Will Thompson.
Tracey, a former ballroom dancer, died at the scene of the tragedy on Thursday morning. Keen cross-country runner Pierce was taken to hospital but died of his injuries.
In a statement, his headteacher Stephen Dunster described the teenager as a “kind and thoughtful” young man, adding: “He was a loyal, caring and conscientious pupil who will be sadly missed.” Barley, 23, appeared before magistrates in Birmingham on Saturday and is due before a judge at the city’s crown court today.
Tracey was loving and caring, a wonderful mother and daughter LYDIA WILKINSON IN STATEMENT YESTERDAY