Brave Peter and Lydia Wilkinson determined to stay in much-loved Greyhound Lane home after brutal murders

Homeless Barley, aged 24, was yesterday starting a 30-year minimum prison sentence after admitting the brutal murders of Tracey and Pierce Wilkinson and attempted murder of Peter Wilkinson at the family’s home in Greyhound Lane, Norton.

Mr Wilkinson, aged 47, and 19-year-old daughter Lydia have not passed comment publicly on the sentence but speaking candidly to the press ahead of the hearing at Birmingham Crown Court they told how they were determined not to let Barley’s devastating crimes drive them out of their much-loved Norton detached home which they had spent years renovating.

Mr Wilkinson said it had not been easy moving back into the property which remained a crime scene for weeks after wife Tracey, aged 50, and 13-year-old son Pierce were horrifically attacked in their bedrooms on the morning of March 30 by the man they had tried to help turn his life around.

In fact, he said: “It was the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life.”

But he added: “It’s our home and, after taking so much from us, we couldn't possibly have it that he would take anything else.

"We love the house, we love the place. It was very much a family home that we had built and renovated ourselves and we like being there.”

The family returned to the property around three months ago after Father Des - the local Catholic priest (Father Desmond Devenney) blessed the house.

Mr Wilkinson (pictured above) said: “When I came out of hospital and lived at my mother's he turned up one day with some wine and asked if he could come in for a cup of tea. He has been brilliant ever since.

“We are not active churchgoers but he said prayers and he blessed every room. The fact he has done that has made things somewhat easier for us."

Lydia, a biology undergraduate who has now returned to her studies at Bristol University, added: “I have started my second year of biology and we continue to stay strong, and be resilient and we are determined to not let this take away any more of our life.

"The two closest people of our family have been taken away from us and we are not going to let it go any further, which is why we returned home to the house that we love and I have gone back to study a subject that I love.”

Lydia (pictured above) said she is keen to become a researcher in the future and do medical research “to continue the help and support that my mum would give to people".

She added: "By researching things like cancer and Parkinson's disease I hope to give back to people and continue her legacy.”

Both Peter and Lydia say the support they have received from members of the public since the tragedy has helped them enormously. Peter said: "It’s actually the thing that brings a real tear to the eye when you look at the amount of support we have had and people's ongoing help and assistance for myself and Lydia.There is an immense amount of good out there and that shines through in situations like this.”

Lydia added: “We have been truly astounded by people's support. That even continues to this day, even six months on. And we genuinely couldn’t do that without that support."