Estranged husband, 28, is charged with murders of wedding planner, 31, and her 11-year-old daughter

Christopher Boon, 28, has been charged with the murder of Laura Boon, 31, nee Mortimer, and her daughter Ella Dalby, 11, after they were found dead at a house in Gloucester on Monday, Gloucestershire Police said.

Boon has two children with Ms Mortimer, aged four and six, and they are said to have been in the house when their mother and step-sister died.

Neighbours said they were woken by a ‘loud bang’ just before the emergency services were called to a property in the city at 4.50am on Bank Holiday Monday.

Chris Boon, 28, has been charged over the suspected double murder of Laura Mortimer, 31, (pictured together) and her eldest child Ella

Ella Dalby died in the house yesterday and her two younger siblings, aged four and six, were said to be in the house at the timee

Ella Dalby died in the house yesterday and her two younger siblings, aged four and six, were said to be in the house at the timee

Laura, who ran a wedding planning service Sweet Beginnings, offering treats for guests as well as dresses and furniture for venues

Laura, who ran a wedding planning service Sweet Beginnings, offering treats for guests as well as dresses and furniture for venues

In the days before her death Laura, who ran a wedding planning service Sweet Beginnings, wrote on Facebook she had a ‘s*** year’ but was now ‘absolutely loving life’.

Laura's mother Hilary and step-father Henry left this moving note for their daughter and granddaughter, who died yesterday

Laura’s mother Hilary and step-father Henry (left) and her sister Jo (right) left these moving notes outside the house today

Police have lifted the cordon around the house so loved-ones and well-wishers can leave flowers and cards

Laura Boon, 31, (pictured) and her eldest daughter Ella, 11, have been named locally as the mother and child found dead in Gloucester this morning

This month Laura  posted a picture of her eldest child Ella while on a 'date night' together

Laura Mortimer, 31, and her daughter Ella, 11, were very close and her mother posted a picture of her eldest child while on a ‘date night’ together earlier this month (right)

He said: ‘ It’s not quite hit me yet, I don’t much about what has happened.

‘The man they arrested was her husband.

Ella Dalby was found dead over the weekend

Ella Dalby was found dead over the weekend

‘They had been married for about fours years and had two children in the marriage – it would’ve been their fifth anniversary in a month or so.

‘Ella wasn’t his, she was from a different father.

School’s tribute to ‘passionate and enthusiastic’ student

Year 7 pupil Ella Dalby was killed along with her mother Laura Mortimer, 31, and was found on Bank Holiday Monday.

Ella attended Barnwood Park Arts College in Gloucester, and headteacher Sarah Tufnell said the school was ‘incredibly shocked and deeply saddened’.

Ms Tufnell said: ‘The whole Barnwood Park school community is incredibly shocked and deeply saddened to hear the tragic news of the death of one of our Year 7 students, Ella Dalby, and her mum, Laura.

‘Our thoughts and prayers are with Ella’s family and friends at this time and we will do all we can to support them and Ella’s many friends in school in the weeks and months ahead.

‘Barnwood Park is a small and tightly-knit school, and Ella was involved enthusiastically in our school life, having a particular passion for dance.

‘She also helped recently with her form’s contribution for our school cultural day.

‘She will be deeply missed by us all.

‘[Laura] was my little lollipop and now she’s gone.’

Neighbours described being woken by a ‘loud bang’ at the three-bedroom property before police arrived and cordoned off the cul-de-sac and a nearby footbath.

Mrs Boon had been living with a 28-year-old named Chris Boon. He was not Ella’s father and had been married to Mrs Boon for almost five years.

The last post on Mrs Boon’s Facebook page, on Thursday night, was about her daughter Ella.

Showing a picture of Ella sitting at her dressing table, Mrs Boon wrote ‘Go to say goodnight and she’s there doing her make up – such a princess.’

An hour earlier, on Thursday night, she posted: ‘Yesterday was a mixed day good/bad for me but when you get supportive random messages they lift you and make you realise who you are, what you have achieved and that I don’t only help myself I help other people out there.

‘Yes I’ve had another **** year but bring it on nothing could ever bring me down when I have hit the top I’m staying right there I absolutely love life.’

Phillica Tabanor, 20, a support worker who lived next door to the family, said yesterday: ‘I wasn’t at home when it happened, but my mum called me this morning to say someone had been killed.

‘When I saw which house it was I thought, ‘oh my God’. It has to be them, she’s the only one that lived at that house and she had an 11-year-old daughter.

‘I used to see them every day, he would go to work and I would see them coming home from McDonald’s. They never seemed happy. They seemed like a normal couple.

‘It never seemed like there was any problem. They always had family around their house. They were still together, I would see them every day together.

‘I would wave and say hello, then go about my day. I can’t believe it. I don’t know what to say.’

 

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