Pierce, Lydia and Peter Wilkinson. Photo / Facebook
Pierce, Lydia and Peter Wilkinson. Photo / Facebook
A man whose wife and teenage son were allegedly stabbed to death by a homeless man who they had helped has spoken for the first time about how the family "always helped others".
Speaking for the first time since the attack in Stourbridge, West Midlands, last month, Peter Wilkinson paid tribute to his "absolute angel" wife Tracey, a 50-year-old former ballroom dancing champion, and their son Pierce, 13, who were killed.
Wilkinson, 47, was also stabbed repeatedly in the attack on March 30, the Daily Telegraph reported.
His 18-year-old daughter, Lydia, was away at Bristol University where she is a student at the time.
Wilkinson spent a fortnight at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. Yesterday, he and Lydia attended West Bromwich Albion's Premier League match against Liverpool where players and fans held a minute's silence to honour the victims.
He confirmed the suspect was known to the family and said that his wife met him while he was homeless. Wilkinson said the family had cared for the suspect "on and off" over the past 12 months.
Fighting back tears, he said: "We were in a happy family bubble, the four of us. Lydia was at Bristol University doing great. Pierce was at school which he loved.
"And my wife was an absolute angel. We had such a happy family life. We are good people. We always helped others. We are a charitable family.
"My wife did a lot of work to help other people. She wouldn't walk past a homeless person on the street without stopping to give them a sandwich, she was that type of person. We just miss them so much.
"We sit talking about it everyday. We were really happy. Now our lives have got a huge hole in them. I nearly lost my life. I got six deep stab wounds.
"I had a lot of internal injuries and was in intensive care for six days. It was touch and go. I had to have a vast amount of stitches."
Tracey Wilkinson. Photo / Facebook
"I was supposed to be in for a few weeks but I came out after 12 days. I am well enough to come out, I am just on painkillers trying to rest and recuperate."
He added: "I have become physically very weak now. Going out and doing more than just a little bit is very hard. It is going to take months to recover.
"We are just taking things one day at a time, one hour at a time. The support we have had has been phenomenal. We have had cards from people we have never heard of.
"We don't know how we will move on but with the steely support of our friends and family me and Lydia will move on. We will find happiness again. It is just going to be a long, long road that we should never have had to take.
"We had renovated the home and it was our labour of love for seven or eight years. Our roots are in Stourbridge and we intend to continue to live in that area."
Days after the killings, Lydia visited the home where she laid flowers to her mother and brother.
Aaron Barley, 23, of no fixed address, has been charged with two counts of murder.
