A new Channel 4 documentary, A Killing in My Family, offers a calm and compassionate look at children who have lost close family members to murder or manslaughter. The programme follows a group of youngsters taking part in a residential weekend run by the charity Winston's Wish, designed to help them process their trauma.
Among the children featured is six-year-old Lilly, whose father stabbed her mother to death. As she writes down her memories, she asks a helper: "How d’you spell ‘killed’? Is it curly-C or kicking-K?" Lilly is due to visit her father in prison, saying she is "really excited to see him".
Three sisters – Chloe, 13, Chelsea, 10, and Lottie, nine – lost both parents after their father killed their mother and then himself. The children say he "came up with a plan" and "stabbed her several times". They pretended to be asleep when he said goodnight, then fell asleep; their grandmother struggles with the fact that he left his body for them to find.
Fifteen-year-old O'Shae, whose father was shot dead, attends with his younger brother Mikeal, who suffers from anxiety and writes "terfied" on a list of feelings. The documentary's calm and unsentimental approach reflects the charity's belief that such savagery must be brought into the light and examined, to prevent further psychological harm.
