LAURA Pemberton whose father Alan, 48, apparently killed her mother Julia, 47, and brother William, 17, has made a public statement for the first time since the triple shooting last week.

She has been comforted at the home of her grandparents in Swindon since the tragedy in Berkshire.

Laura survived because she was at Cambridge University at the time of the family massacre on Tuesday.

She revealed that her father had moved out following a court injunction for threatening to kill her mother more than a year ago.

In a statement issued through the Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth, Miss Pemberton said: "First of all I want to say that we were a loving family and words cannot express how I feel or how much I miss them.

"I want to make clear the following: My parents' marriage had been in difficulty for a number of years.

"My father moved out of the house following a court injunction after he threatened to kill my mother. This was over a year ago.

"My mother's diagnosis of cancer and the subsequent successful operation did not play a part in her decision to end the marriage.

"The sale of the house was on the order of the divorce court."

She added: "It appears that my brother William was killed whilst trying to protect my mother."

Mr Pemberton and his wife Julia were married in Holy Rood Church in Swindon in 1980. They lived in Castle Eaton when Mr Pemberton worked at Allied Dunbar.