Hinckley deaths of father and two sons discovered and wife left seriously injured after FOUR HOUR stand-off with cops
David Stokes, 43, and his sons Adam and Matthew were found dead inside their Hinckley, Leicestershire house after hours-long stand-off with police
A DAD and his two young children were found dead inside their home after an hours-long stand off with police called to reports of a disturbance.
The bodies of David Stokes, 43, and his sons Adam and Matthew were discovered inside their Hinckley, Leicestershire, house this morning.
Their mum Sally Stokes, who turns 45 next week, was found injured outside and taken to hospital, where she is in a stable condition.
Cops were called to the family home at 9.30pm last night after receiving reports of a disturbance.
Special negotiators and officers rushed to the scene and made contact with David and Sally who were barricaded inside the house.
Following a lengthy stand-off the woman was found injured and the man was found dead inside the property.
Adam, 11, and five-year-old Matthew were found dead upstairs in the semi-detached home.
Police have said they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident, but would not confirm whether it was believed to be a murder-suicide.
The woman was taken to hospital, where she remains in a stable condition.
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Next of kin have been informed and police are not looking for anyone in connection with the incident.
The case has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) as the force had prior contact with those involved.
Resident Wendy Aubrey said: "They woke me up at 2.30am. I was in bed.
“My neighbour could see a woman standing in the street. She phoned the police. I was woken up by screaming.
“All the cars came down, there were loads of them. I was kept awake by all the doors banging.
“I’ve been here 30 years, there’s always something going on in Hinckley, but you don’t expect it round here.”
Another neighbour told the : "About five minutes later six police cars and an ambulance arrived.
"I'm not sure what's happened really. The police have been here all night."
The two boys attended St Mary's CE Primary School, with head teacher Rachel Ayres saying: "Everyone at St Mary's is devastated by the tragic news about our pupils, Adam and Matthew, and our sincere sympathies are with their family and friends.
"This is an extremely difficult time for our pupils, staff and parents and our priority is supporting them. Special assemblies are being held tomorrow to support the children.
"Prayers will be said and we will have staff and counsellors available to speak to the children to ensure we're providing as much help as we can during this traumatic time."
Teresa Reid, 89, who lives opposite the family, told the : “It is a shock. It is so sad.
“They were a normal family. I saw them coming and going and we would say ‘hello’ and ‘how are you?’"
Mrs Reid told the paper that David was an electrician and the family had lived in the house for 15 or 16 years.
Mitch Bennett, 45, who lives at the end of the street, added: "I came home from work at 10pm last night and saw five police cars and an unmarked police van outside.
"It was a massive shock.
"A lot of police were milling about, I saw some police shields come out of the van.
"I knew them a little bit from walking the dog - the children would stop and stroke him.
"I think they came to the door for Halloween and I gave them sweets."
A police cordon remains in place at the scene and a detailed forensic examination is underway.
Police confirmed the incident, saying: "Although the two children and the man whose bodies were found in a House in Hinckley, Leicestershire, earlier this morning have not yet been formally identified, they are believed to be a local family.
"Detectives believe the dead man was 43-year-old David Stokes, and the children were his sons Adam, aged 11, and Matthew, aged five."
Post-mortems are to be carried on on Thursday.
Detective Chief Supt Sandall, head of Leicestershire Police’s Crime and Intelligence Directorate, made an appeal for witnesses to get in touch: “A number of enquiries are now underway to understand what caused the three deaths, and the circumstances surrounding the events of last night in the house.
“Whilst we are not, at this stage, looking for anyone in connection with what happened, we would like to hear from anyone who may have information for us.”
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