Violent protests broke out in Southport on Tuesday night as hundreds of demonstrators clashed with police following the deadly knife attack on children attending a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club.

A mob gathered outside a mosque, hurling bricks, masonry and fireworks at officers, amid claims that police were not telling the truth about the suspect’s background and his motives, with rumours swirling on social media.

Smoke was seen billowing from the area after a police van was set on fire. 

North West Ambulance Service said 39 officers were injured and 27 were taken to hospital. Some officers sustained serious injuries including fractures, lacerations, a suspected broken nose and concussion. 

Three police dogs were also wounded, with one suffering burns to her back leg.

The Prime Minister on Tuesday night said: “The people of Southport are reeling after the horror inflicted on them.

“They deserve our support and our respect. Those who have hijacked the vigil for the victims with violence and thuggery have insulted the community as it grieves. They will feel the full force of the law.”

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper also condemned the violence and said “those responsible will face the full force of the law”.

The violence came after a vigil to remember the three girls who were killed in the attack, identified yesterday as six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar, took place nearby.

Just hours earlier, Ms Cooper warned that divisions were being stirred up in the wake of the attack.

There has been mounting speculation online about the identity of the attacker and the motive behind his rampage.

Merseyside Police described Tuesday night’s scenes as “sickening” and said people were using the speculation about the attack to “bring violence and disorder to our streets”.

Section 60 and Section 34 Orders were put in place at 7.54pm on Tuesday, giving officers enhanced stop and search powers throughout the Southport area for 24 hours, in a bid to control the chaos. 

Police said officers who had already completed a shift on Tuesday returned to duty to help colleagues deal with the protests.

“I am so proud to have witnessed off-duty officers (many of whom had not long finished a full shift) parade back on duty to support their colleagues who had displayed such courage whilst under constant and sustained attack,” Assistant Chief Constable Alex Goss said.

“Sadly, offenders have destroyed garden walls so they could use the bricks to attack our officers and have set cars belonging to the public on fire, and damaged cars parked in the Mosque car park.

“This is no way to treat a community, least of all a community that is still reeling from the events of Monday.”

Police have appealed for anyone with information or video footage of those involved in the violence to come forward. 

Rumours rife 

Russian state media were among those falsely identifying the suspect as an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK by boat last year and sharing claims that he was on an MI6 watch list and was known to local mental health services.

Unsubstantiated claims that the attacker shouted “Allahu Akbar” have also circulated on social media.

In a statement to the Commons, Ms Cooper said those peddling misinformation about the tragedy risked undermining the ongoing criminal investigation and were being disrespectful to the grieving families.

However, her statement did not rule out that the investigation could become a terror inquiry.

Downing Street also appealed for calm after Sir Keir Starmer was heckled during a visit to Southport, with some protesters accusing the police of covering up aspects of the case.

Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, said the heckling of the Prime Minister demonstrated how unhappy the public were with the state of law and order in the country.

He said important questions about the case remained, including whether there was any truth in suggestions that the suspect was on a security services watch list and whether it was terror-related.

In a video statement, Mr Farage said: “I just wonder whether the truth is being withheld from us. I don’t know the answer, but I think it is a fair and legitimate question. What I do know is that something is going horribly wrong in our once beautiful country.”

Merseyside Police officers are continuing to question a 17-year-old on suspicion of murder and attempted murder in connection with the attack.

It is understood that although police are not treating the attack as terror-related, it has not been ruled out. Counter-terror police are continuing to support the investigation.

Ms Cooper’s statement raised the prospect that the investigation could become a terror inquiry. She said the authorities would examine what contact the suspect had with “different agencies”, which could include the security services and police, as well as mental health services.

The Home Secretary also made reference to Martyn’s Law, legislation about the safety of public venues that was proposed following the Manchester Arena terror attack in 2017, saying the Southport case would no doubt feature in the debates over the measure.

A source said: “Terror has not been entirely ruled out at this point. We recognise that it can go in any direction. All agencies are still involved, including counter-terror police. They are not leading the investigation, and it is not being treated as a terror incident, but they are still on hand. We don’t want to categorically rule anything out.”

Russia Today cited claims by a website called Channel 3 Now that the suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK by boat last year and was on an MI6 watch list. The Russian state-controlled television channel later updated its story to reflect that the claim had been retracted.

Channel 3 Now claims to be a US-based website, although its Facebook page showed that it is partly managed from Pakistan, while its YouTube channel contains dozens of Russian-language videos.

With an incorrect name of the alleged attacker being shared widely online, Merseyside Police was forced to issue a statement.

A spokesman for the force said: “This name is incorrect, and we would urge people not to speculate on details of the incident while the investigation is ongoing.”

Speaking about the violent protests on Tuesday night, Mr Goss, the Merseyside Police Assistant Chief Constable, said:  “There has been much speculation and hypothesis around the status of a 17-year-old male who is currently in police custody, and some individuals are using this to bring violence and disorder to our streets.

“We have already said that the person arrested was born in the UK, and speculation helps nobody at this time. Our officers should not have to face this, but we will be there tonight to ensure the safety of the local community who have suffered enough, and will arrest those involved in criminal behaviour.”

The teenager being questioned by police cannot be named because of his age, but was born in Cardiff in 2007. It is understood his parents came to the UK from Rwanda in 2002.

Ms Cooper urged people to avoid speculating on the case and allow the police to get on with their job.

She told MPs: “False information has already been extensively shared in the last 24 hours. Those who do this for their own purposes risk undermining a crucial criminal investigation, and I ask everyone to show some respect for the community in Southport and for families who are grieving and in trauma.

“In these dark and difficult moments, the police must be able to get on with their work and communities must be given the time and space to grieve and heal without outside voices seeking to use events to stir up division or advance their own views.”

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “People should listen to the police – they should not do anything that is going to make the police’s job harder to manage the situation, to conduct their investigations. It is unhelpful to speculate on things like the motive and the circumstances around this.”

Steve Rotheram, the Mayor of Liverpool City Region, said: “I don’t understand that people want to weaponise the deaths of three children before the investigations have concluded.”

James Cleverly, the shadow home secretary, called for people not to “get involved in the grief of others” by sharing misinformation relating to the attack on social media.

Mr Goss added: “It is sickening to see this happening within a community that has been devastated by the tragic loss of three young lives.

“In the last 24 hours, we have seen overwhelming support and sympathy from the community and wider Merseyside communities for the families who are currently trying to deal with their loss and care for victims injured during the major incident.

“Yesterday, our officers and other members of the emergency services were faced with one of the most difficult situations they will ever face. Tonight, they find themselves being attacked as they endeavour to prevent disorder. 

“The actions in Southport tonight will involve many people who do not live in the Merseyside area or care about the people of Merseyside.”

Huw Edwards, the former BBC news presenter, has reportedly split from his wife ahead of his court appearance to face charges of possessing indecent images.

The ex-News at Ten anchor has moved out of the family home he shared with Vicky Flind in Dulwich, south London, and is now said to be dividing his time between Wandsworth, which is also in south London, and Wales. 

His new address was revealed on documents published by Westminster magistrates’ court before the hearing on Wednesday.

Edwards and Ms Flind, a TV producer, have not yet divorced. They share three sons and two daughters and were married in 1993. They are understood to have first met when Edwards was a BBC correspondent in Westminster.

A source told The Sun: “They separated quite a long time ago but have not announced it publicly. Huw has been living elsewhere for a while.”

CPS criticised

Earlier on Tuesday, the Crown Prosecution Service faced criticism for breaching open justice principles by failing to release the information that Edwards had been charged with three counts of making indecent images of children.

Edwards was charged in June, but the details only emerged on Monday, after the date of his first court appearance was published by Westminster magistrates’ court.

One prominent former attorney general said he found it “very puzzling” that the CPS had not released details of the charges brought against Edwards around the time he had been charged.

He said the CPS’s actions appeared not to be “in accordance with” the principles of open justice.

The 62-year-old former broadcaster, who left the BBC last year, will appear at Westminster magistrates’ court on Wednesday, charged with three offences relating to images shared on WhatsApp.

Edwards, who was one of the BBC’s most highly-paid stars, was arrested last November by detectives from Scotland Yard.

‘A public matter’

The former attorney general, who asked not to be named, told The Telegraph: “It is very puzzling that the CPs did not release the charge details to the media.

“Normally, with high-profile cases, an announcement is made that charges have been brought. This notifies members of the media that a first court appearance is imminent to allow them to report on it, in accordance with the principles of open justice.

“I’m therefore puzzled that the CPS did not announce charges when they were brought in June, as at that point it became a public matter.”

According to the charge sheet, Edwards is accused of having six category A images, 12 category B pictures and 19 category C photographs on WhatsApp.

The offences are contrary to sections 1(1)(a) and 6 of the Protection of Children Act 1978. If found guilty, he could receive a maximum penalty of six months imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.

The CPS denied it had deliberately suppressed details about Edwards being charged or given him preferential treatment.

‘Approach taken isn’t unusual’

A CPS spokesperson said: “Decisions on charging announcements are based on operational factors and no defendant receives preferential treatment.

“Our handling of this case followed our normal procedures working in partnership with police colleagues.”

Scotland Yard denied it had taken a different approach in informing the media in the case of Edwards.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: “The approach taken in this case isn’t unusual. Quite often when there is a lengthy gap between the date someone is charged and their first appearance, we will publish the details immediately before the first appearance.

“The purpose of us releasing the details is to allow media to cover the court proceedings so providing it is prior to that date we have met that requirement.

“In this case, another media outlet spotted that the listings had gone up. Had nobody done so they would have been shared with media proactively today, ahead of tomorrow’s hearing.”

Edwards was suspended by the BBC last July following media reports that a high-profile presenter had been involved in an inappropriate relationship with a young man.

His wife later confirmed he was the presenter at the centre of the allegations, adding that he was being treated for serious mental health issues.

In April he resigned from the broadcaster on “medical advice”.

Labour has axed plans to reopen dozens of railway lines and stations closed during the 1960s Beeching cuts.

The closure of the £500m Restoring Your Railway fund, announced by Rachel Reeves on Monday, leaves the future of projects across England and Wales hanging in the balance in a blow to small-town Britain.

The fund was established in 2020 as part of Boris Johnson’s “levelling up” agenda and has so far helped finance the reopening or near reopening of two lines and six stations. A dozen more projects are at an advanced stage and 20 others have received some funding.

Briefing notes issued following the Chancellor’s speech, in which she claimed that Labour had inherited a £22bn hole in the public finances from the Tories, suggest that scrapping the Restoring Your Railway programme will save £76m next year.

RailFuture, which campaigns for better passenger and freight services and has 20,000 members, said Ms Reeves’ intervention was “shortsighted” and at odds with Labour’s aim of putting infrastructure and construction at the heart of plans to revive the economy.

Neil Middleton, director of RailFuture, said: “The Restoring Your Railway fund could have been a key way for the Government to deliver on its strategic objectives in terms of transforming infrastructure, promoting social mobility and tackling regional inequality.

“This isn’t HS2. The amounts of money involved are no more than rounding errors in the wider scheme of things, but the difference to isolated communities is huge. It’s just the sort of investment that we need to make if this country is to be more efficient and effective.”

The Campaign for Better Transport said Labour had damaged its green credentials in abandoning projects that would help to slash carbon emissions by luring people out of their car and onto the train.

‘This feels like a mini-Beeching’

The Dartmoor Line between Okehampton and Exeter in Devon, the first restored route to become fully operational under the scheme, created 550,000 additional rail journeys in its first two years of operation.

Douglas McLay, a campaigner for the return of passenger services on the Ivanhoe Line, which links Leicester with Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, said the announcement came as a “body blow.”

He said: “This feels like a mini-Beeching, and once again it’s not being done for any good reason. It seems that the programme had a Tory look to it, so it’s getting the chop.”

Initiatives that had been funded through Restoring Your Railway will still  “be able to be reconsidered” as part of a review to be undertaken by Louise Haigh, the Transport Secretary, the Government said.

Eight projects have already been delivered under the scheme or are close to completion, including the Dartmoor Line, which received £40m from the fund, and the Northumberland line between Newcastle upon Tyne and Ashington.

Another 13 proposals were earmarked for further funding having already submitted business cases but are vulnerable to termination following the Chancellor’s decision.

They include the reinstatement of the lines from Bristol to Portishead, Somerset; and Preston to Fleetwood, Lancashire, and the restoration of passenger services on the Barrow Hill line from Sheffield to Chesterfield, Derbyshire; and the Waterside line bordering the Solent, as well as on the Ivanhoe line.

North Somerset council said Network Rail had been poised to make final submissions on the Portishead route to the Department for Transport, the final step before the start of construction, following “years of hard work”.

The scheme was the first in the country to secure a consent order for the reopening of a branch line and would reconnect 50,000 residents with the national rail network.

Council leader Mike Bell said: “This is a shovel-ready scheme that we can deliver. We just need government support to make it happen.”

Mr Bell, a Liberal Democrat, urged local Labour MP Sadik Al-Hassan, who unseated former Tory defence secretary Liam Fox in the election, to “do everything” to secure Ms Haigh’s backing.

Mr McLay said the Ivanhoe Line – named after the Sir Walter Scott novel set in the area – had last year received outline backing for a first phase from Burton to Coalville, Leicestershire, one of the biggest towns without a railway station in the country.

He said that Amanda Hack, the local Labour MP, had made reopening the currently freight-only route one of her main campaign pledges. Passenger services lost as a result of the Beeching cuts would cost less than £100m to restore, including three new stations.

The UK network has shrunk by half over the last 100 years, with the biggest cull of lines coming after Richard Beeching, chairman of the then nationalised and unprofitable British Railways, recommended a wholesale closure programme.

In a 1963 report titled The Reshaping of Britain’s Railways, Beeching argued that resources needed to be focused on core routes. A third of the network was closed in the following 10 years, leaving towns up and down the country without a rail link, while failing to halt losses. Dr Beeching became a hate figure as communities lost rail links at a time when car ownership remained low. 

In launching Restoring Your Railway, the Conservatives said the plan would “restore many of the Beeching lines” and reconnect smaller towns “that have suffered permanent disadvantage since they were removed from the rail network.”

The daughter of BBC racing commentator John Hunt phoned police after being shot with a crossbow in an attack at the family home, an inquest has heard.

Hannah Hunt, 28, was able to text someone pleading for help, telling them she had been “tied up” at the property in Bushey, Hertfordshire, on the evening of July 9.

The text asked the unnamed member of the public to call the police, telling them the person responsible was still at the house, a coroner’s officer told the short hearing.

Ms Hunt was then able to call 999 reporting that she had been shot, as had her mother Carol, 61, and sister Louise, 25, the 10-minute hearing at Hertfordshire Coroner’s Court was told.

She gave her address before the call cut out.

When officers arrived they found her alive in the main doorway of the home with a crossbow bolt still in her chest, Geoffrey Sullivan, senior coroner for Hertfordshire, heard.

Carol Hunt died from stab wounds to her chest and abdomen, while her daughters Hannah and Louise died from crossbow bolt injuries, the hearing was told.

The coroner adjourned the inquest to allow any criminal proceeding to take place.

The three women were found fatally injured at the family home in Ashlyn Close just after 7pm.

Police launched a manhunt for suspect Kyle Clifford, who was found just under 24 hours later with what were thought to be self-inflicted injuries in the Hilly Fields area near his home in Enfield, north London.

He was arrested on July 11 on suspicion of three counts of murder, but remains in a serious condition in hospital and is yet to be questioned by police. 

Paying tribute to the three victims, Mr Hunt and his third daughter Amy previously said: “The devastation that we are experiencing cannot be put into words.”

In a further statement read to Sky Sports Racing viewers by his colleague Matt Chapman, Mr Hunt paid tribute to his “magnificently inspirational” surviving daughter.

He said: “Notwithstanding the horrid evil that’s swept through our lives, wreaking devastation on an unimaginable scale, the counter to that has been the breathtaking messages of support, some of which are still to be read.

“Amy, my eldest daughter, has been magnificently inspirational with her control and support for me, which I am trying, trying so hard, to replicate.

“Every message has felt so important, the same as a reassuring hug. We know people are worried about us. We will get through this.”

Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary, 57, has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 28 years after being found guilty of running a banned terrorist organisation.

Choudary who counter-terror police say has had a “radicalising impact” on terrorists, was convicted last week of taking a “caretaker role” in directing Al-Muhajiroun (ALM) while its founder was in jail.

He was also found guilty of encouraging support for the group through online lectures to the Islamic Thinkers Society (ITS), which prosecutors said was another name for ALM.

It came after an investigation by the Metropolitan Police, the New York Police Department (NYPD) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

ITS was infiltrated by undercover law enforcement officers in the US, who were present at online lectures in 2022 and 2023, held over the Element messenger platform.

Choudary will spend more than 26 years in jail in total due to the time he has already spent in custody, meaning he will not be released before the age of 85, the judge said.

Sentencing at Woolwich Crown Court on Tuesday, Mr Justice Mark Wall told Choudary he was “front and centre in running a terrorist organisation”.

The judge also said that he “encouraged young men into radical activity”.

However, Paul Hynes KC, defence barrister, said during the hearing that by the time Choudary had started directing ALM, it was “little more than a husk of an organisation” and he was not “gathering the masses to join”.

ALM was proscribed as a terror organisation in the UK in 2010, though it was said in court the group has continued to exist under various names.

A senior security official said last week’s conviction was a “significant moment”, adding the evidence presented in court showed “Choudary’s continued involvement in supporting terrorism and radicalising others”.

Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism command, said: “There are individuals that have conducted terrorist attacks or travelled for terrorist purposes as a result of Anjem Choudary’s radicalising impact upon them.”

During a press conference, he added: “ALM’s tentacles have spread across the world and have had a massive impact on public safety and security.”

Rebecca Weiner, NYPD deputy commissioner, said it was a “historic case”, describing Choudary as a “shameless, prolific radicaliser”.

Ms Weiner said: “It is usually the foot soldiers, the individuals, who are brought into the network and go on to commit the attacks who are brought to justice.

“And it’s rarely the leader, which is what makes this a particularly important moment.”

Prosecutor Tom Little KC, opening the trial at Woolwich Crown Court on June 13, said Choudary had a “warped and twisted mindset”.

Omar Bakri Muhammad, who founded ALM, was in prison in Lebanon between 2014 and March 2023, and Choudary stepped in and “filled the void”, Mr Little said.

In 2016, Choudary was convicted and jailed for five-and-a-half years for supporting the so-called Islamic State.

The court heard that Choudary, whose licence conditions expired in July 2021 following his 2018 release from prison, said he viewed being called an extremist or fanatic as a “medallion” during lectures.

Mr Murphy said: “What became clear after his licence conditions was that he saw the online space as a means of engaging globally with larger groups of people.

“And what was clear to us was that increasingly there were a larger number of people that were willing to engage with Anjem Choudary online and he was having an influence over those individuals.”

Khaled Hussein, 29, from Canada, who prosecutors said was a “follower and dedicated supporter” of Choudary, was found guilty of membership of ALM.

He was jailed for five years with an extra year on licence.

Evidence showed how Hussein was effectively acting as a personal assistant to Choudary, helping to host online lectures and editing extremist online blogs and publications for him.

Hossein Zahir KC, defence barrister, argued Hussein was a “wholly inactive” member.

Choudary was arrested in east London on July 17 of last year while Hussein, from Edmonton, was detained at Heathrow Airport, having arrived on a flight the same day.

Scotland Yard said Hussein had planned to visit Choudary.

The husband of Emma Pattison, the Epsom College head teacher, was able to own a firearm despite taking anxiety medication because he had got the medication online rather than through his GP, an inquest has heard.

Mrs Pattison and her seven-year-old daughter Lettie were found dead at their home within the grounds of the Surrey boarding school in the early hours of Feb 5 last year. George Pattison, Mrs Pattison’s husband and Lettie’s father, was also found dead.

At an inquest into their deaths at Surrey coroner’s court on Tuesday, Richard Travers, the senior coroner, concluded that Mr Pattison had unlawfully killed his wife and daughter before killing himself.

The court heard that Mr Pattison was able to renew his firearms licence to keep a shotgun at their home despite being on anxiety medication.

Paul Gregory, the firearms licensing manager for Surrey Police, said Mr Pattison had held a gun licence since 2012 but had failed to disclose that he was taking medication for mental health issues when he applied for it to be renewed in 2016.

The chartered accountant had obtained “significant numbers” of propranolol tablets, a drug prescribed for anxiety, from an online pharmacy called Chemist4U in the years after he received his initial licence.

It meant there was no record of it with his GP, and the Surrey Police firearms office had no way of knowing he was taking it when he reapplied for his gun licence ahead of its five-year expiry date.

Mr Travers said this appeared to present “evidence of a lacuna in the system” for obtaining a firearm. He said: “What is clear is that the safeguard currently in place … is capable of being undermined by the use of [an] online GP.”

Current laws mean people applying for a firearms licence must disclose any relevant physical or mental health conditions that may affect their right to own a gun, including depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts.

Police also contact an individual’s GP when they apply for a gun licence, and are sometimes asked to produce a report on their medical history. Mr Pattison did disclose details of his GP when he tried to renew his firearms licence, but answered “no” when asked if he had any mental health conditions, said Mr Gregory.

Because he had obtained anxiety medication privately, it was not on his GP’s medical record. As a result, Surrey Police’s firearms office deemed his request “satisfactory” and his certificate was renewed, the court heard.

Mr Travers said he would consider the use of online GPs, plus evidence of “coercive control” against Mrs Pattison, in a Prevention of Future Death report on whether Mr Pattison should have been able to keep a double-barrelled shotgun at their home.

Reading evidence from a post-mortem to the court, Mr Travers said he agreed that Mr Pattison had died of a “self-inflicted shotgun wound” to the head.

The court heard that Mr Pattison was “approximately three times the statutory [alcohol] limit for driving” at the time of his death. Toxicology reports suggested he had 243 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood at the time, which the coroner said would be associated with a “high to extreme degree of intoxication” in an average social drinker.

A very low concentration of propranolol was also found in toxicology reports, but not conclusively confirmed.

Declaring his findings to the court, Mr Travers concluded that Mrs Pattison and Lettie had both died of “unlawful killing” after they were “shot by George”.

Mrs Pattison became Epsom College’s first female head teacher in September 2022. The court heard that she had died from three shotgun wounds to the chest and abdomen, two of which would have been “independently fatal”. Lettie died from a shotgun wound to the head, Mr Travers concluded.

She had returned home from work on the afternoon of Feb 4 last year while her husband and daughter had been watching the rugby on TV at home with friends.

Mrs Pattison gave some of her friends a lift home before returning to her home. She then ordered a takeaway from a Chinese restaurant, which arrived at just after 9.30pm.

A Deliveroo driver who spoke to Mrs Pattison on the phone after arriving at Epsom College and struggling to find the head teacher’s house said she “sounded normal” at the time. He said she then greeted her at the door to collect the food and had “a smiley face and seemed ok”.

At just before 11pm, Mrs Pattison made distressed calls to Deborah Kirk, her sister, saying that her husband had hit her, the court heard.

A witness statement from Mrs Kirk was read out at the inquest. She said she received two phone calls from her sister, at 10.46pm and 10.48pm, telling her that her husband had assaulted her and their dog, Bella.

She said that in one 30-second call, Mrs Pattison told her: “I need someone to come over,” and that her sister’s tone of voice was one of “concern, but not of terror”. Mrs Kirk added: “It was more like she had assessed the situation and did not feel safe.”

Mrs Pattison’s sister and her husband Mark Miller then got an Uber from Hertfordshire to the head’s home, according to witness statements. Phone logs show the pair repeatedly tried to call both Mrs Pattison and her husband during the journey, but their calls went unanswered.

The lights were on at the house when they arrived, and several cars were in the driveway, but there was no answer when they tried to ring the doorbell, the court was told.

In a witness statement, Mr Miller said he entered the house ahead of Mrs Kirk and immediately discovered Mr Pattison’s body. He said he could “see the damage from the shotgun and the smell of the shotgun”.

He stopped Mrs Kirk from entering the house and went upstairs, where he found the bodies of Mrs Pattison and Lettie in their respective bedrooms.

Mr Miller then called an ambulance and the police, with paramedics arriving on the scene at around 12.54am. All three family members were officially pronounced dead at 1.20am.

Police evidence read out to the court said a shotgun was discovered alongside Mr Pattison’s body, with 11 discharged cartridges found around the house.

Mr Pattison’s family were not present at the inquest, but a statement read out from his father said the accountant was an avid golf and shooting fan, which explained his possession of the shotgun. He said the incident had left an “indelible mark on the lives of two families”.

Mrs Kirk read out a statement paying tribute to her sister and niece. “Emma was lightness itself, she was fundamentally, viscerally kind,” she said. “Not the kindness that is fragile, but the type that has power. The form of kindness that has purpose and vision. The type of kindness that drives change… that fills a room.”

She described Lettie as “razor smart, curious and disarmingly cute”, with a “cheeky smile and huge brown eyes”.

The solicitor said she was “trying to forgive” her brother-in-law over the deaths. “I can only speak for myself when I say I am trying to forgive you,” she told the court. “I can only imagine you must have been in an excruciating hell of your own. I hope we can do more to help others in a hell similar to yours.”

Addressing Mr Travers directly on Tuesday, Mrs Pattison’s sister said the inquest presented an “important opportunity to raise awareness, not just of domestic homicide, but also of domestic abuse”.

She later delivered a statement outside the court, urging sharper focus on domestic abuse. She said:“Our wish is that no one has to endure what our girls endured, and what we have endured. But we cannot save all of them. 

“So our hope is that the deaths of our beloved family members will lead to some shift, some learning that might save at least one of those lives. That this might shine a painful but crucial spotlight on the realities of coercive control, and the need to dispel and challenge myths and stereotypes around who may be the victims and perpetrators of such abuse.”