Mother and son 'hacked to death with axe as two teenage girls flee bloodbath'

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 2:03 PM on 13th December 2010

A mother and her son were murdered in an axe attack in their end-of-terrace home in the early hours of today.

Two teenagers who were in the property at the time fled with minor injuries following the attack on the woman, in her 40s, and man, aged in his 20s.

A 43-year-old suspect was later arrested more than 50 miles away on suspicion of carrying out the double killing.

An investigation was launched after a 13-year-old girl and a 19-year-old woman who were in the house in Banbury, Oxfordshire, went across the road and told a neighbour what had happened.

The teenagers were taken to Horton General Hospital in Banbury for their own safety after the emergency services arrived.

The same street where the double murder happened was the scene two years ago of another brutal killing in which a wife was battered to death with a chapatti pan.

In that incident the 30-year-old woman was murdered and body wrapped in a duvet and hidden behind a settee.

Her husband, Mohammed Rashid, was jailed for life after walking into a police station and giving himself up.

Today the scene of the latest killings was sealed off by police as a full-scale forensic examination of the house got underway.

A neighbour who lives opposite the scene said that the family had been renting the house.

'The family only moved in recently, within the last couple of months or so. They are lodgers and they haven't been here long,' he said.

'There was a couple living there and a young teenage girl of about 16.

'The family is very quiet and have kept themselves to themselves since they moved in but there has never been any trouble from them.

'They have always been very quiet and they don't really talk to anyone in the street but it's still a bit of a shock.'

Another neighbour said: 'All we've heard is there's been a murder and an axe was involved.

'I know the house but I don't know who lives there. We can't get up there because the police are blocking it; they've stopped the cars going up and down.

'It's a very quiet street really. I never hear of any trouble.'

Detective Chief Inspector Pete Vigurs, from the Thames Valley Police major crime unit, said: 'Firstly, I would like to reassure the community. We do not believe this is a random attack and think the victims knew their killer.

'At this time we can confirm we are trying to trace a man in connection with this incident.

'Another woman and a girl were in the property at the time of the incident and they have now been taken to a place of safety.

'Officers will look to speak with them later today.

'This is an ongoing investigation and at this time there is nothing more we can say, but will look to provide updates as soon as possible.'

From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1338212/Man-questioned-double-axe-murder-mother-son.html