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Fuller quarry children 'were stabbed to death' | Fuller quarry children 'were stabbed to death' |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Three children found dead near their father's body in a disused quarry were stabbed to death with a hunting knife, an inquest has heard. | |
Ceri Fuller, 35, Samuel, 12, Rebecca, eight, and Charlotte, seven, were found at Poles Coppice in Shropshire. | |
An inquest heard the three children, from Milkwall in Gloucestershire, had suffered "large" wounds to the throat. | |
A fingerprint matching Mr Fuller's was found on a bloodstained knife recovered from the scene on 16 July last year. | |
Pathologist Dr Alexander Kolar told Wem Coroner's Court that Samuel died from the effects of the single wound to his neck. | |
Rebecca had been stabbed five times in the chest, and her sister had suffered four chest wounds, the inquest was told. | |
Fractured skull | |
Dr Kolar, who carried out the post-mortem examinations, said Samuel and Rebecca also had cuts to their hands "consistent with defensive type injuries". | |
The children's father was found dead at the foot of a 60ft (12m) cliff at the quarry with a fractured skull and other injuries consistent with a fall from height. | |
Mr Fuller, a paper mill worker, went missing with his children days before their bodies were discovered at the wooded beauty spot. | |
At the time of the deaths, West Mercia Police said one line of inquiry was that Mr Fuller had killed his children before taking his own life. | |
'Usual self' | |
Forensic scientist Christopher Mckenzie said a 17cm-long (6.5in) hunting knife found at the scene had DNA on it from the three children. | |
In statements read to the court, friends of Mr Fuller, a production line supervisor, described him as a reserved family man and a good listener who rarely instigated conversations. | |
Paper mill employee Alan Norton said Mr Fuller had appeared to be his normal self before he failed to attend work for a night shift on 12 July. | |
"I didn't notice anything different about him from his usual self and I didn't notice any changes in his behaviour or personality," Mr Norton said. | |
Another colleague Peter Morgan, whose statement was also read to the inquest, added: "I thought him to be a reserved type of person, very mild-mannered and softly-spoken. | |
"I am not aware of any reason as to why he may have taken his own life or that of his children." |