Man Chokes Wife to Death, Fatally Stabs 12-Year-Old Daughter: Police

A man has been charged with the murder of his wife and their 12-year-old daughter after their bodies were found at their home in Suffolk, U.K., according to reports.

On Sunday, the Suffolk police force gave an update and said 46-year-old Peter Nash of Great Waldingfield has now been charged with two counts of murder for his wife Jillu Nash, 43, and daughter Louise Nash.

Police had been called to the couple's home just before 10 a.m. on September 8 following concerns over the safety of the individuals inside. Their bodies were found at the Great Waldingfield property and Peter Nash was then detained, according to a Guardian report.

When he was apprehended by police he was found with serious injuries. He subsequently spent over a month in hospital under police arrest, according to a separate Sky News report.

After this, he was transferred to Martlesham Police Investigation Centre for questioning on Saturday.

An inquest was opened into the deaths of Jillu Nash and her daughter on October 7, and it was revealed that the couple's daughter also had severe learning difficulties.

A Home Office post-mortem examination found that Jillu Nash cause was death was pressure on the neck while her daughter died of a stab wound to the abdomen.

Following the death of Jillu Nash and her daughter, flowers have been laid in the street in memory of the pair. Peter Nash is due to appear before Ipswich Magistrates' Court on Monday.

"We, the family of Jillu and Louise Nash, have been struck by utter devastation, despair and pain by the tragic way the beautiful little lives of a young mother and a child have ended and from whom we are now separated forever," Ms Nash's family previously said in a statement, according to a Mail Online report.

Newsweek has contacted the Suffolk Police Department for comment.

The U.K. government has begun to take take more interest in domestic homicides and abuse following the lockdowns that occurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A report was published on 10 February 2022 by the Office for National Statistics looking at the homicides in England and Wales for the year ending March 2021.

"While the coronavirus pandemic restrictions did not lead to an increase in domestic homicides in the latest year, as may have been expected, non-domestic homicides decreased by 17 percent (from 508 to 420)," the report said.

"Of the 114 domestic homicides, 67 victims were killed by a partner or ex-partner (down from 74), 27 were killed by a parent, son or daughter (down from 32), and 20 were killed by another family member (up from 15).

"Almost half (49 percent) of adult female homicide victims were killed in a domestic homicide (75). During COVID-19 lockdown periods covering 23 March to 3 July 2020, 5 November to 2 December 2020 and 5 January to 31 March 2021, this was 56 percent, highlighting the change in the composition of homicides during the restrictions. Of the 75 female victims, 72 were killed by a male suspect."