A BOY of seven and his teenage babysitter have been stabbed to death
in a ''frenzied'' attack in a bedroom, police said yesterday.
Jonathan Copley and 15-year-old Rachel Rooney were discovered with
knife wounds in a scene described by police as ''total carnage''.
Jonathan's mother, Mrs Denise Copley, and his two elder sisters found
the bodies when they returned to the family's terraced home in Little
Horton, Bradford, from a party just after midnight.
Rachel, a friend of Jonathan's 15-year-old sister Elizabeth, had
travelled from her home in nearby Queensbury to the Copley's house to
babysit Jonathan on Saturday night.
Detective Superintendent Malcolm Mawson, leading the hunt for the
double murderer, said it was a ''frenzied and constant attack''.
He said: ''We believe the weapon used was a knife, perhaps with a
blade about 6in long and half-an-inch wide.'' He added that the weapon
had not been recovered. Investigations were continuing to establish a
motive, which was not clear.
''There is no indication at the moment that any sexual assault took
place and it is too early to say whether anything has been stolen,'' he
added.
A neighbour of the Copley family, 22-year-old Taranjit Shergill, said
she had been watching television around midnight when she heard a knock
on the door, and then a car drive away minutes later.
''I thought nothing of it at the time but, about half-an-hour later, I
heard hysterical screaming in the street,'' she said. ''I looked out of
the window and there was this girl shouting 'Jonathan, Jonathan' and she
collapsed in the road.''
Mrs Copley and her husband, Robert, a joiner, separated less than a
year ago and the divorce had been granted last month.
Mrs Copley had started seeing a man called Brian and they seemed
''perfectly happy'' together.
However, Mr Copley returned to the family home for Christmas because
Jonathan wanted his father with him when he opened his presents.
He had stayed for a couple of days but left once festivities were
over, according to nearby residents.
Trainee accountant Sabina Chadun, 23, formerly of the same street but
now living in nearby Wyke, said she was devastated when she heard that
Jonathan had been killed.
''I looked after him on a couple of occasions and he was such a cute
lad, very lively, talkative, and cheeky. He was lovely,'' she said.
''I was stunned when I heard the news. I just sat down and cried.''
She described the boy as ''chocolate mad''. He was a pupil at South
Mear Primary School, near his home.
Rachel Rooney, the murdered babysitter, is believed to have attended
Queensbury Upper School in her home town, and neighbours were devastated
by the death of the ''lovely looking girl''.
As a blue saloon car was taken away by forensic experts for routine
tests, a resident living near the Rooneys' home spoke of their shock.
A Home Office pathologist and forensic scientists have been at the
Copley house to carry out investigations and post-mortem examinations
were are also being held.
Police particularly want to speak to a young man seen on a moped-type
vehicle outside the house between 10.30pm and 10.45pm on Saturday.
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