Prayers for victims of policeman

PRAYERS will be said today for the family of a police inspector who killed his wife and daughter in a frenzied attack at their home just days after he was sacked.

Reverend Canon Lee Francis-Dehqani, from Oakham Parish Church, in Leicestershire, said he will lead prayers for Tobias and Samantha Day and their children during the service.

Day, known as Toby and once described by police chiefs as “never off duty”, is thought to have killed his primary school teacher wife Samantha and youngest daughter Genevieve, and attacked Kimberley, 15, and Adam, 13, before taking his own life on Thursday at their home in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire.

Rev Canon Francis-Dehqani said yesterday he had known the family for seven years, since he was appointed at the church in 2004.

“They were a lovely family and regular worshippers at the church.” Police have launched a murder inquiry. The two children who survived the attack were yesterday said to be in a “stable” condition in hospital.

The attack in the semi-detached family home is believed to have been fuelled by Day’s dismissal from Leicestershire Police for misusing force computers. Yesterday the force declined to comment on reports that Day suspected his wife was having an affair and was seeking information.