When Tracey-Ann met her niece’s boyfriend he seemed well-mannered. But she had no idea of what he was capable of…
Sending my mum Dolet upstairs for a shower, I started hatching my secret plan.
‘See you in a bit,’ I said, before scurrying into the garden.
I gathered all the party decorations I’d hidden and brought them inside.
‘I’m so glad we pulled this off,’ my sister Tanysha, 45, said.
As Mum was the one who always organised family events, we decided that this time we’d throw her a surprise party for her 64th birthday.
We quickly put up the banners, then I laid out her gifts and her favourite fruit cake I’d made.
Her partner Denton, 58, was in on the whole thing.
‘This looks great,’ he said, as he walked in.
Tanysha and I were living in the family home to support Mum, while she underwent cancer treatment.
Sometimes I’d pop home, but
I loved it when we were all under one roof.
Suddenly we heard the shower turn off and Mum’s footsteps down the stairs.
When she saw our handiwork, she smiled.
‘I knew something was going on,’ she said.
Soon, our friends and family came over, and Mum’s face lit up.
We had a blast, laughing and dancing the night away.
A month later, I went over to Mum’s to cook everyone dinner.
As usual Mum, Denton and Tanysha were there, as was Tanysha’s daughter Samantha, 27, who was with a man I didn’t recognise.
‘Hi, baby,’ I said, as I gave her a hug.
‘Auntie Tracey, this is my boyfriend,’ she replied.
I was surprised, as no one had mentioned she’d met someone.
‘Hi, I’m Joshua,’ he smiled.
‘Would you like some dinner?’
I asked.
‘Unfortunately, I have to go in a minute,’ he said.
As I started rustling up a meal, I gave him a snack so he wouldn’t go hungry.
‘Thank you,’ he said.
After eating it, he said his goodbyes to everyone.
Then I plated up dinner and Samantha told me she and Joshua had been together for
six weeks.
‘Maybe you’ll finally have that baby we’ve been asking you for,’ I said, cheekily.
‘Who knows, Auntie,’ she laughed.
When it was time for her to go, I gave her a big hug.
‘Bye, baby, I love you,’ I said.
‘Love you too, Auntie Tracey,’ she replied.
'She's not answering my calls'
I decided to go home and a few days later, I called Mum on my way to work as usual.
Mum and I texted and spoke on the phone every day, and she always answered my calls.
But on this occasion, she didn’t answer.
That’s odd, I thought.
I tried Tanysha and Denton, but they didn’t pick up either.
Suddenly my phone rang. It was Tanysha’s husband.
‘She’s not answering my calls,’ he said, worriedly.
‘I’ll go home and check on them,’ I said.
I got on the bus and he rang me back on the way.
‘The police are looking for Samantha,’ he said, anxiously.
‘Why?’ I asked.
‘I don’t know,’ he said.
Something’s not right, I thought.
Minutes later, my cousin
called me.
‘Something’s happened. There’s been a stabbing in our area,’ she said.
‘OK, don’t panic, it’s probably a neighbour,’ I said, trying not to think the worst.
But when I got close to our family home, I saw the police barricades.
My heart dropped.
With all the officers on the scene, I knew something terrible must have happened to
my family.
When I asked what was going on, I was told to wait in one of the police cars.
‘Are they dead?’ I asked him.
‘I’ll get an officer to take you to the station,’ he replied.
I needed answers, so searched online and found an article about four members of one family who had been stabbed.
It could be Mum, Tanysha, Samantha and Denton, I thought in horror.
But the officer refused to confirm. Then at the station, they sat me down.
‘There’s no easy way to say this. Your family who were in the house… they’re all dead,’ he said.
I went into shock.
Somehow, I called family members to come to the station, and they took me home.
Later, it was confirmed that Joshua had been arrested and was in custody.
Time went by in a blur.
Two weeks later, I had to identify their bodies.
Seeing them broke me, but organising their funerals gave me a focus.
I bought decorations in all their favourite colours — yellow for Mum, lilac for Samantha, and blue for Tanysha and Denton.
Hundreds of people came to pay their respects.
They were loved by so many,
I thought.
Joshua was charged with four counts of murder. He denied them, and instead admitted to manslaughter on mental health grounds.
The case went to trial.
I attended, along with some of my family.
I looked across at Joshua, and his face was emotionless.
It filled me with rage.
He doesn’t care at all, I thought.
The jury were told that Joshua had recently increased his use of cannabis. He claimed it was a contributing factor to carrying out the killings, because he wasn’t in the right mental state.
As the jury were told details of that day, I was hearing them for the first time too.
Neighbours had called police after hearing a commotion.
When officers arrived, they found Denton’s body at the bottom of the stairs, while
the others were in the kitchen.
Joshua was found lying on the floor of the upstairs bathroom naked, screaming and asking God for forgiveness.
‘I ain’t even in the wrong, I did them for sacrifice,’ he said later in hospital.
Then, he gave a chilling warning.
‘I will do something stupid again,’ he’d said.
It was believed the murders weren’t pre-meditated, but that was of no comfort to me.
After a three-week trial, Joshua Jacques, 29, was found guilty on four counts of murder at the Old Bailey.
He was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 46 years.
But it doesn’t feel like justice, because my life is forever changed.
Joshua’s lawyer read out a statement on his behalf.
'I will do something stupid'
‘I would like to say to the family of the deceased, I am truly and sincerely sorry for all of the anguish, pain and heartache I have caused,’ he said. ‘I have discussed it with myself, and I cannot believe that
I am the cause of this monstrosity.’
It meant nothing to me.
After the trial, a watchdog discovered failings in the way Joshua’s case was handled.
He’d been on probation at the time of the murders for possessing and supplying drugs.
Just five months after he was released on licence, he killed
my family.
The Probation Service admitted they had concerns that Joshua wasn’t complying with bail conditions, but they missed opportunities to put him back behind bars.
Joshua had even been using cannabis while on bail, and had been sectioned for mental health issues four years earlier.
He’d admitted to bouts of aggression and was deemed a high risk to the public.
But despite that, he was released.
It was gut-wrenching to know that, had the right actions been taken, my family would still be alive.
I received an apology, but my faith in the system was completely shot.
Nothing would bring my beloved family back.
The day before she was killed, Mum had had her last radiotherapy session.
She was about to embark on her cancer-free life, but she never got the chance.
I miss them all so much.
I try not to think about how they died, but instead remember all the wonderful times we had together.
Tracey-Ann Henry, 49, Bermondsey, London