Tragedy thought to be second recent murder-suicide case

Inquests were opened yesterday into the deaths of a sacked police inspector whose body was found at the family home with those of his wife and young daughter in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire.

Toby Day had been a police inspector before his dismissal from the service for the apparent misuse of computers operated by the Leicestershire force.

He is thought to have launched a frenzied attack on his primary school teacher wife Samantha and daughter Genevieve, six, before taking his own life.

The couple’s teenage children Kimberley, 15, and Adam, 13, were also injured in the incident last Thursday, but survived and were taken to Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham, where they remain in a stable condition.

Coroner for Rutland and North Leicestershire Trevor Kirkman adjourned the hearing yesterday.

A spokesman for the coroner said no witnesses were called and the hearing was adjourned pending further inquiries.

Day was a highly regarded career police officer, who had been expected to rise further through the ranks before his fall from grace.

Three years ago he ran the London Marathon in memory of a colleague murdered in a domestic stabbing.

Neighbours and colleagues were left shocked after the attack by the “respected” man as police said he was fired for “matters concerning honesty and integrity”.

Nigel Keep, the owner of a local cafe, said he spoke to Day several days before the deaths, and described the former inspector as “very depressed” after losing his job.

Mr Keep said: “His head was down when he spoke to me and it had been a messy sacking.

“I didn’t ask the details but he said even his bosses were shocked at the way it happened.”

Residents on the Days’ quiet residential street were said to have heard screams coming from their home.

Police were first alerted to the attack at about 4.20pm on Thursday over reports the eldest daughter, Kimberley, had been injured.

She was taken to hospital and officers forced their way into the family’s house after receiving a second 999 call an hour later. They found the four remaining family members, but only one was alive.