Who was Robert Needham?
ROBERT NEEDHAM left the nation shocked when he carried out a horrific shooting in the first week of the Covid-19 lockdown.
The motives of the killer, who turned the gun on himself afterwards, are still unknown to this day.
Who was Robert Needham?
Robert Needham was a builder who was father to two girls Ava, four, and two-year-old Lexi.
He shared his daughters with his partner Kelly Fitzgibbons, who worked as a part-time legal secretary.
The family lived together with Robert’s mother Maureen at a remote home in the village of Woodmancote, West Sussex.
What did Robert Needham do?
Robert shot dead his partner, their two kids, and himself the week the UK was plunged into its first lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The bodies of the family, and their dog, were found on March 29, 2020 by Kelly’s uncle, Ronald Peacock.
Robert used a licensed and legally-owned shot gun, bought just nine days prior to the murders.
It was later revealed that Robert had lied on his shotgun application.
He didn’t disclose that he had a caution for theft and that he’d been treated for depression.
At an inquest into their deaths, Coroner Bridget Dolan QC recorded a verdict of unlawful killing on Ava, Lexi and Kelly, and one of suicide on Needham.
She added it may never be known why the dad of two had slaughtered his family before killing himself.
Needham had begun using cocaine in the months before lockdown was imposed and had twice tried to buy the drug in the days before killing his family.
There was no traces of the drug found in his system after his death and his alcohol level was below the drink-drive limit.
At the time of the crime, The Sun reported that a source had suggested builder Robert had been suffering from money worries.
They said of Robert, who was building an extension at his home: “He was worried about the lockdown and work drying up.
“It’s not been confirmed that was the motive but it had been playing on his mind.”
A neighbour of the family described Needham as a “bully” and a “nasty piece of work” who she wanted to avoid.
What was said about the deaths?
Kelly’s heartbroken sister Cheryl Giles said after the horrific murders that Kelly was “the sweetest, kindest, loveliest woman who lived for her girls.”
A Woodmancote local, who said he had known the Needham family for 40 years, described them as “close knit” and “normal”.
He said: “I’ve known the family a very long time. We got on well as neighbours.
“As far as I know they were a fairly close-knit family, just normal, but not in each other’s pockets.”
In the years since the crime, Kelly’s identical twin sister, Emma Ambler, has been campaigning for tighter gun laws.
Emma bravely shared her horrendous ordeal on ITVX‘s true crime series, A Murder In The Family, which took an in-depth look at the murder-suicide
Speaking about participating in the documentary Emma revealed: “One of the reasons I wanted to do this is because after it happened there were lots of negative comments saying, ‘Why did she let him have a gun in the house?’
“But Kelly never thought they were ever in any danger – she never knew he was capable of doing something like this.
“So I also wanted people to know that she was a great mum to those two girls.”
She had previously said how Kelly had wanted to be a mum more than anything.
Emma said: “Kelly and I had an idyllic and happy childhood and we would spend hours playing together, making up dance routines and plays to show the family.
“In school Kelly had lots of friends, she did well and school came easy to her.
“Nobody made me laugh as much as Kelly. She was an amazing sister. She was so caring and she treated my children like her own.
“Kelly longed for children for a number of years so she was thrilled when she fell pregnant. They were her whole world and she was so proud of those beautiful girls.”