Lewisham man stabbed four members of same family to death

NHS worker Dolet Hill, 64, her partner Denton Burke, 58, their daughter Tanysha Ofori-Akuffo, 45, and granddaughter Samantha Drummonds, 27, were killed on April 25 last year.

Their bodies were found after police were called to a disturbance at Ms Hill’s terraced home in Bermondsey, south London.

• READ MORE: Man in his 80s taken to hospital after crash with van in Bromley
• READ MORE: Pictures from the scene as four stabbed to death

Officers discovered Mr Burke’s body at the foot of the stairs and those of the three women in the kitchen.

The scene in Delaford Road on April 25 (Image: PA)

They had all suffered numerous stab wounds with one or more knives and were pronounced dead at the scene.

Joshua Jacques, 28, was arrested at the property and charged with their murders.

At a previous hearing, the defendant, from Minard Road, Lewisham, south-east London, admitted four counts of manslaughter but denied murder.

The guilty pleas to the lesser charge were not accepted by the Crown.

On Friday, Jacques appeared at the Old Bailey by video-link from Belmarsh prison.

Judge Mark Lucraft KC set a trial date from November 27 with another hearing scheduled for February 3.

The court heard the trial would be heard by a High Court judge.