Tributes paid to parents of four children killed at home near Lewes as man, 64, appears in court charged with murder
12 June 2023, 13:43 | Updated: 12 June 2023, 13:47
The families of a married couple who were found dead at their home have paid tribute to the "funny and loving" pair as a man appeared in court charged with their murders.
The bodies of Josh Bashford, 33, and 30-year-old Chloe were found at their home in Lewes Road, Newhaven, East Sussex, on Friday June 9.
Derek Martin, also known as Derek Glenn, 64, of Moulsecoomb Way, Brighton, who police say was known to the two victims, appeared at Brighton Magistrates' Court on Monday June 12.
The 64-year-old defendant, of Moulsecoomb Way in Brighton, appeared at Brighton Magistrates' Court on Monday wearing a grey jumper and spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth.
Woman arrested on suspicion of murder after girl, 7, and boy, 11, found dead in Stoke-on-Trent
It emerged today that the couple had posted online about their children not long before their deaths.
Chloe posted a series of photos of her daughter to Instagram, describing herself as 'lucky'.
Two weeks before that, she shared another set of photos of her son, which she captioned 'swinging with mumma'.
Meanwhile, Josh's shared two photos of his daughter, 10 years apart. The proud father captioned the photo: '10 years fly by.'
Georgie Last, a niece of the couple who had four children, wrote on Facebook of the "heartbreak" being experienced by the family.
She added: "The most funny and loving pair, you loved each other so much it was just amazing to see what true love looked like.
"You were the most amazing parents to four beautiful, intelligent, and loving children."
Also on Facebook, Simon Glenn wrote: "Still does not feel real, just can't process it. My baby sister Chloe taken away from us way too soon, such a gentle soul."
And Stephen Glenn wrote: "Taken cruelly from us far too young leaving four beautiful children behind."
He added: "You were and will always be our baby sister, we will miss you dearly and you will be forever in our thoughts and prayers RIP."
Detective Chief Inspector Kimball Edey, of the Surrey and Sussex major crime team, said: "Our thoughts remain with the families of the two victims at this extremely difficult time.
"While our work to establish the exact circumstances of what happened are ongoing, we are not seeking anyone else in connection with the matter.
"I'd like to thank the public for their understanding and remind them not to speculate or comment on anything which could jeopardise our investigation in the meantime."
A Sussex Police spokesman said that post-mortem examinations had been scheduled to take place in the next week to confirm the causes of death for the couple.
He added that the victims' families were being supported.
