MASSACRE ON CHRISTMAS MORNING

When Dustan Countryman, 40, arrived at his ex's home with presents for his daughter, life was about to change forever

- VERONIQUE HAWKSWORTH

A nurse handed me a bundle of blankets, and as I peered down, two bright blue eyes met mine. In that moment, my whole world changed. 'Hello Levenah, I whispered. I'm your daddy. It was February 2010 and my girlfriend Jacquita, then 21, had just delivered our baby girl. Jacquita and I had been together a year and she was already a mum to Abigail, then one, who I adored. Now Levenah was here, our perfect family felt complete.

Back home, Levenah was a happy baby and I loved to spend the evenings cuddling her on my chest.

Only, our happy bubble didn't last. Months after Levenah was born, Jacquita had to go back to work at a local restaurant and she started working long hours. She seemed distant and distracted and I sensed something wasn't right.

A month on, when she came home in the early hours of the morning, I was sat with Levenah in my arms while Abigail was in bed, and I demanded she tell me the truth.

Jacquita crumpled into tears and admitted that she had been taking drugs. I was so angry. Drugs destroyed lives – how could she be so irresponsible?

But looking down at my sleeping baby, I vowed that it wouldn’t destroy her life.

‘It’s drugs or us,’ I said. Jacquita begged me not to make her choose, and that told me all I needed to know, so I told her to leave and stay with her family. She did, taking Abigail with her. I wished she could leave Abi with me too, but as she wasn’t my biological daughter, I had no choice but to let her go. All I could do was hope that, living with her mum Patricia, Jacquita could sort herself out.