Monday, 19 March 2012

BRISTOL DAILY NEWS

THE SEASIDE SHOOTER’S FRIEND REVEALS ALL

by Harriet Hill

A family friend of the alleged Seaside Shooter who killed a Tilby couple revealed the moment she found her.

Mother and son Deirdre and Clive Wilson were shot dead in their home last Friday, the 9th. The suspect, Heather Underwood, 32, is currently in a coma in hospital after turning the gun on herself.

Sheila Bannerman, 58, who has worked with the family for years, had arrived at Tilby Manor Caravan Park at around 8 a.m. on the 9th to put out the horses to graze. She explained: ‘I’d gone into the main barn, as that’s where the tack room is, to get a head collar for one of the horses when I found Heather. She was on the floor with the gun beside her and a wound to her chest. There was also a pool of blood surrounding her head. I thought she was dead, that she’d been murdered. I called the ambulance and they arrived within minutes. When I later found out that she was the one who had killed those two people and tried to take her own life – well, I couldn’t believe it.’

The Powell family, who have owned the caravan park since 1991, have had their share of tragedy. Margot Powell’s elder daughter, Heather’s sister Flora, disappeared in 1994 when she was only sixteen. The police never solved the case, although many locals, including Sheila herself, believe that Flora was murdered. ‘I knew the family back then,’ she said. ‘Flora’s bloodstained blouse was found but never her body. Her uncle Leo was arrested at the time but released without charge. Leo always has had a liking for younger women and I think a lot of the locals believe that there’s no smoke without fire, especially now he’s left. We all wonder what he’s running away from. Tilby’s a safe, sleepy seaside town. For two awful tragedies to befall one family is particularly heart-wrenching.’

Sheila described Heather as a ‘happy, smiley woman’, who is a brilliant mum to her son, Ethan, eighteen months. She said: ‘Heather was always quiet and thoughtful, but unfailingly polite. I’ve never heard a cross word from her, even as a teenager. She was exceptionally close to her sister, Flora, and I think her disappearance messed her up more than anyone would have thought. She suffered post-natal depression after her son was born and, as far as I’m aware, she was still on anti-depressants. I think she must have just flipped. It’s Margot I feel sorry for. She lived for those girls, you know.’

Police are remaining tight-lipped about what occurred on the 9th, but Heather Underwood is currently in hospital under police guard.

Avon and Somerset Police are urging anyone with any information to come forward.

I stare in disbelief at the front page of the newspaper that Ted has slammed down in front of me.