Tell them you love them and hug them and kiss them each day. (From Daily Echo)

Tell them you love them and hug them and kiss them each day.

12:44pm Wednesday 24th September 2008 in News By Jenny Makin, Crime Reporter

That is Kerrie Hughes’s poignant message to every other mum after her two baby girls were smothered to death by their father.

Grieving Kerrie paid tribute to her “little princesses” who were murdered by David Cass, who then took his own life.

She also released two of the last pictures ever to be taken of her children who she described as “beautiful”.

Smiling at the camera as she played on a trampoline is three-year-old Ellie. Her baby sister Isobelle, who was just one, is seen grinning at the camera.

The little girls were found dead in a caravan on Sunday night. Police were called to Paynes Road garage where they forced entry to the site and made the discovery.

The body of Mr Cass, who had hanged himself, was found close by.

In a statement to the Daily Echo, Kerrie, of Elderberry Close, Fair Oak, said: “Everybody who knew my babies knows just how beautiful they are and that they are and always will be princesses in everybody’s eyes, especially mine.

“I would also like to tell every mother that no matter what is going on or how busy your days are, to tell your babies how much you love them and what they mean to you with a hug and a kiss too, every day.”

Kerrie, 20, who had recently separated from Mr Cass, added: “I would like to say thank you to all my friends and family for their support and condolences but, as you will understand, it is a hard time for us and we are all trying to deal with it as best we can.”

Grahame Hughes, Kerrie’s uncle, also spoke on behalf of the family and paid tribute to Ellie Marie and Isobelle Frances.

He said: “This whole situation seems almost unreal to us. We are all quite numb over what has happened.

“It is as if time has stopped.”

Mr Hughes added: “We also feel very much for Dave’s family, who are going through the same sort of thing. We feel respectful to all the friends and family and others who have offered us their condolences and support.”

David Cass smothered Isobelle and Ellie in the caravan where he lived in the grounds of the Paynes Road garage.

The MoT tester then hanged himself after making a phone call to family telling them what he had done and that he loved them.

He also left a chilling message for Miss Hughes, saying “the children have gone to sleep forever”.

Police found the bodies at the garage in Paynes Road, Freemantle, following a 999 call shortly before 7pm on Sunday.

Meanwhile, work restarted yesterday at the garage. Mechanics were busy working on cars as people came by to add more flowers to the growing number of tributes left at the murder scene.

Among the visitors was Mr Cass’s mother who collected some personal belongings from the site.

People who did not know the family were among those laying flowers after reading of the tragedy in the Daily Echo.

A former work colleague of 33-year-old Mr Cass, driver James Angel, said: “I saw him about a month ago with one of his daughters on his shoulders at Marwell Zoo.

“He seemed like a really good dad, so this has come as a total surprise.”

Yesterday detectives confirmed that post-mortem examinations on the bodies of Ellie and Isobelle revealed they had died as a result of asphyxiation induced by smothering.

David Cass died as a result of strangulation caused by hanging.