Gran tells of heartbreak and fears for daughter still

The grandmother of three children killed in a house fire has spoken of her grief and said the family still does not know how the blaze began. Julia Daley, 81, told how her “heart is broken” for her daughter Julie, who almost lost her life in the blaze that claimed her three grandchildren, Fiona, 12, Alexander James, 8, and Philip, 5.

The grandmother, who says her daughter is struggling to accept her children are gone, was speaking before their funeral on Thursday. Julia said: “Tomorrow should have been Philip’s sixth birthday. Instead of giving him his Spider-man toys, the books he wanted and the special Paw Patrol cake he asked for, we will be preparing to attend his funeral. “I’ve unwrapped his presents and can’t stop looking at them, knowing how much fun he would have had playing with them. I couldn’t bear putting them away in a cupboard where they will never be played with, so I’ve decided to give them to a children’s charity