Neighbours Shock At Garforth Double Murder

A neighbour's described how he saw a 4 year girl being rescued from a house where her mum and sister were found dead in Leeds.

Bill Rattery said an ambulance driver carried the injured girl out in his arms on Saturday, after emergency services were called to the house on Kirkby Avenue, in Garforth.

Police found the bodies of Sarah Laycock, 31, and her eight-year-old daughter Abigail, after arresting 36 year old John Miller, Ms Laycock's partner, at a nature reserve several miles away.

Mr Rattery, who lives across the street from the family's home, described what he saw:

"Paramedics came first then the police just turned up mob-handed in vehicles with their flashing lights going".

"It seemed a long time before they got the little lass out but she seemed okay. The driver carried her out to the ambulance on his arm, I think she was wearing a little brown coat, then they got her in the ambulance and shot off."

Another neighbour, Damian Dickinson, said he saw "stocky" plasterer Miller in a newsagents buying sweets for his children on Friday last week, and said he seemed "happy as Larry".

But he added that he didn't think Miller had worked much recently as a result of the economy.

Paramedics were called to Fairburn Ings Nature Reserve, near Castleford, after a member of the public said they saw Miller, struggling to walk, and Police were called after he had a row with them as they tried to treat him.

Officers later discovered the bodies of Ms Laycock, who's believed to have worked as a teacher in the Wakefield area, and Abigail.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said the four-year-old girl was taken to Leeds General Infirmary, where she was treated for minor injuries and later discharged.

Detectives are still waiting to question Miller, as he remains under arrest in hospital.