Dad came close to killing us in grief, says Rachel’s son
THE son of Wimbledon Common murder victim Rachel Nickell has told how his father came close to killing them both to end the agony of their grief.
Alex Hanscombe described the horrific moment he witnessed his mother being hacked to death when he was just three years old.
He recalled how he shouted “Get up, mummy!” three times, adding: “The moment I watched my mother’s soul leave her body is one I will never forget.”
Now 28, Mr Hanscombe revealed for the first time how his father Andre, 54, considered killing him and committing suicide as he struggled to come to terms with her death.
He said: “In the days after, it was very tough. My dad kept inside how upset he was. I know that he contemplated ending our lives. He drove a motorbike and one part of his brain was concentrating on driving while the other was thinking about how to end our lives.”
Ms Nickell, 23, was sexually assaulted and stabbed 49 times by schizophrenic Robert Napper as she walked with her son on Wimbledon Common, south-west London, in July 1992.
Napper, now 51, confessed in 2008 while detained indefinitely in Broadmoor for killing Samantha Bisset and her four-year-old daughter Jazmine in Plumstead, south-east London, in 1993.
Mr Hanscombe said he had already forgiven the killer long Tragic Rachel Nickell and, right, killer Napper before he knew it was Napper. In a book out this week, he says he remembers well the moment his mother was murdered.
He said: “I was walking hand in hand with her. There was beautiful sunshine and I remember the sound of people having picnics.
“We saw a stranger who was lurching towards us. Then I was grabbed and thrown to the ground, my face dragged across the mud.
“A few seconds later, my mother collapsed beside me. I picked myself up as fast as I could.” As Napper calmly walked to a stream to wash the blood off his hands, the youngster shouted “Get up, Mummy!”
Mr Hanscombe recalled: “There was blood everywhere. Everything was silent. I said again, ‘Get up, Mummy!’ and she didn’t respond. Then for the last time, with all my strength, I said, ‘Get up, Mummy!’
“She didn’t. At that moment, reality came crashing down. My heart was completely broken.”