Mothers whose daughters were murdered by abusive partners say they're broken

Sam Shrewsbury and Claire McGrath tell Maya Oppenheim about their torment since their beloved children were killed

From the moment they wake up to the moment they fall asleep, Claire McGrath and Sam Shrewsbury can only think about the daughters they have lost both of whom were murdered by abusive partners. Their hearts broken, the two mothers struggle to comprehend the horror of what their children endured.

Ms McGrath’s daughter Keely Wilson was beaten to death by Anthony Davis in their Derbyshire home in December 2018. She was left with 14 broken ribs, two collapsed lungs and a fractured skull – with a total of 48 external injuries found on the 30-year-old’s body.

Ms Shrewsbury’s pregnant 17-year-old daughter Jayden Parkinson was strangled to death by Ben Blakeley in December 2013. Blakely buried the teenager in his uncle's grave in Oxfordshire, and her body was only discovered a fortnight later.

Both grieving women are backing The Independent’s Brick by Brick campaign, launched in partnership with the leading domestic abuse charity Refuge, to raise funds to build a house for women escaping abusive partners. The initial £300,000 target has recently been smashed, with more than £350,000 in donations pouring in so far and plans already underway for the building of a second home.

‘Life will never be the same’

Ms McGrath never took to her daughter’s boyfriend, finding him cocky and sarcastic, but she never considered for a second that he would go on to murder Keely.

She only met him four or five times in the five years they were together as her daughter would come alone with her children to stay every month or so, the 56-year-old recalls.

“I could kick myself because I considered myself always to have had good intuition and it failed me completely,” she recalls. “We were as much victims of him as she was.”