A man who stabbed his wife to death, calmly collected his two children from school and then strangled them was given three life sentences at Northampton Crown Court yesterday.
Phillip Austin (32) admitted murdering his wife, Claire (31), son Keiran (8) and daughter Jade (7) between July 9th and July 12th last year after a row between the couple over whether they could afford a holiday or pay for an operation to relieve Austin's snoring.
Austin told police he killed his wife because she constantly criticised him. He had wanted the operation but his wife wanted a holiday.
During the row he stabbed his wife in the back when she had fallen on their kitchen floor.
However, when the handle of the knife snapped off, Austin picked up another knife and stabbed his wife again. He then pushed her body to one side and left to collect his two children from school. A few hours later, when the family returned, Austin killed Jade first by tying a dressing gown cord around her neck.
He then strangled Keiran with a child's walking strap. Both children struggled against their father and had small grazes under their chins, possibly indicating they had used their fingers to try to remove the ligatures around their necks.