Fordingbridge killings - Residents shock (From Daily Echo)

Fordingbridge killings - Residents shock

4:30pm Monday 26th July 2010 in News

PEOPLE in Fordingbridge have reacted with shock to the discovery of four bodies in a house in the town.

Hauwo Chau, owner of the Peking Restaurant, in Bridge Street, Fordingbridge, said: "Vicki used to work in restaurant since the age of 15. She was a hard working woman. She worked there for five years.

"I thought they had financial problems they were renting the house. We gave them a boxer dog. They were a very friendly family."

Mr Chau's wife was too upset to speak.

Former mayor Cllr Jean Willis, 85, said: "In a little place like Fordingbridge this is a shocking event.

"It's a terrible tragedy when a family is caught up in that sort of thing."

Roy Fittall, of Parsonage Close, Fordingbridge, added: "Everyone is wondering who it is. The thing with Provost Street is that it's virtually got to be someone we know.

"You take a quiet little place like Fordingbridge. Things like that don't happen here, but unfortunately they do."

The Mayor of Fordingbridge, Cllr Malcolm Connolly, said: "It's absolutely tragic.

"The loss of young lives is always tragic and it leads to the question why something like this happens.

"It's a small town. These people will have been known to many and it will have a major impact on the lives of residents."

Retired butcher David Price, whose business was near the house where the bodies were found, said: "It's a tragedy, but what's behind it I don't know."

Mike Jones, who works at Caxton Décor, added: "It's a bit of a shock to say the least because it might be someone who comes into my shop."

A neighbour Alayna Brooks, aged 53, said she saw the grandmother of the family running out of the house screaming: 'they're all dead'.

Miss Brooks said she understood that the husband of the family was found hanged in a bedroom, the two girls were on a bed and the mother was found dead downstairs.

Fordingbridge district councillor Mike Shand said: "I had a text from my daughter, who is on holiday in the south of France. She saw it on the TV news and asked me what was going on. "All I know is that the road is closed off and the police are present. "It's very sad and my commiserations go to the people who are left behind."

Ruth Croker, chairman of the Fordingbridge Footpath Society, said: "I drove through the town at 12.20pm and there was obviously something going on.

"The only person I spoke to about it said how sad it all was."