When Claire Hart gathered the courage to finally leave her husband Lance after years of unbearable abuse, he threatened to burn down their home. What followed was an explosion of violence that left two women dead and a family forever marred by grief.
Claire, 50, and her 19-year-old daughter Charlotte were gunned down in cold blood by an enraged Lance outside the Castle Sports Complex in Spalding, Lincolnshire, on July 19 2016. After killing his estranged wife and daughter, Lance turned the double-barrel shotgun on himself.
The shocking event left a permanent scar in the memories of the couple's two remaining children, Luke and Ryan Hart, who had helped their mother and sister escape the family home and move into rented accommodation just days before the murder took place.
READ MORE: Someone killed my son and someone knows who did it
Now a domestic abuse advocate, Luke will tell his his family's story at the annual Domestic Abuse Conference in Liverpool, at the Hilton Hotel on June 29. Now in its seventh year, the conference aims to educate people who encounter domestic abuse in their work, including police officers, NHS staff, social workers, lawyers, local government officials, educators and housing organisations.
Luke, 33, said: "When I was three-years-old, we went from a a town to a run-down farmhouse in Lincolnshire. We grew our own food, we didn't make any money, we lived off-grid. Our neighbours were far away, and we lived in a caravan for ages. We were very isolated. During that period of our lives, we didn't really notice our father because he didn't have to do anything to control us. He had isolated us. He had us controlled just by being there."
But everything changed when the family moved back to civilisation so Luke could attend secondary school at the age of 11.
Luke said: "Suddenly we had neighbours, we lived in a place where other people were. Our parents had to work. That's when we noticed our father became really controlling.
"We couldn't afford fuel, we couldn't even afford heating. The only room that was heated and lit was the living room, and he would always be watching us. We were hugely limited in what we were allowed to do. He always framed it as financial stress and that gave him the ability to control everything, down to the light switches and the water in the kettle.
"We thought the problem was we had no money, because that's what my father insisted. We thought if we could get money, we could fix everything and he might improve.
"There were times when we did challenge him, but every time we tried, he would escalate destructively. He would make the situation into DEFCON 1. You couldn't reason with him, you couldn't problem solve with him. You just had to obey him. If you challenged him, everything was going to burn."
For years, Claire and her children suffered under Lance's obsessive control. He confiscated Claire's passport, refused her access to money she had earned, shouted furiously at his children over minor issues, and often grabbed, poked and pushed them.
It was only when Luke and Ryan started working, and Charlotte went to university, that Claire decided enough was enough and announced her plans to leave.
On July 16, she and Charlotte agreed to meet Lance outside the swimming pool to exchange documents. But none of the family expected the tragic events that would soon follow.
Luke said: "We always thought that, for a man to kill, he would have to be persistently violent for a long time. There would be pushing and punching and weapons. As much as we thought our father was not a good man, we didn't realise he posed a life-threatening risk. But actually, the research shows it isn't violence that predicts murder, but controlling behaviour.
"He would destroy everything he had to make sure mum couldn't survive by herself."
Following the murders of Claire and Charlotte, Luke and Ryan set up CoCo Awareness, an organisation aimed at shining a light on the signs and effects of coercive control.
Luke said: "Our father was the man he was. As far as I'm concerned, he was the devil on Earth. That's who we grew up with. But Ryan and I can show the incredible strength of mum and Charlotte - they live on through us, our actions and how we live.
"It's through us being who we are that we create a legacy for them. They're the light that overcame the darkness - they're the reason Ryan and I are the people we are. They were more than enough for us to overcome our father, and we're lucky we had them. It's a shame they're not here today, not just for us, but for everyone. They were truly good people."
Other speakers at for this year’s Domestic Abuse Conference include Dr Jules Carlisle, lead consultant clinical psychologist at Mersey Care NHS Trust, domestic abuse consultant Malka Livingstone and Emma Pickering, senior tech abuse manager at charity Refuge.
For further information or to register for the conference, email info@morecrofts.co.uk or book online.
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