Murderer's ex-wife launches petition

David Morris was sentenced to four life sentences

The former wife of David Morris, the man convicted of the Clydach murders, has begun a petition to clear his name.

Wendy Morris, the mother of the builder's three children, claims Morris is innocent.

Special prayers have been said

Morris, 40 was sentenced to four life sentences at Swansea Crown Court on Friday for the "massacre" of four members of the same family.

Mandy Power, 34, her disabled 80-year-old mother and her daughters Katie, 10, and Emily, eight, were battered to death in June 1999 when builder David Morris embarked on an "orgy of savagery".

Mrs Morris from Penlan in Swansea - along with other family and friends - has raised a 200-signature petition asking for a retrial.

"He is not a murderer. I'm absolutely positive.

"I've seen him in drink and drugs and he is not that sort of person" she said.

"We've already got 200 names on the petition and we're not going to give up to prove he is innocent."

The house was burned out after the attack

Meanwhile, prayers were said on Sunday at St Mary's Church in Clydach aiming to heal some of the emotional wounds uncovered by the horrifying details revealed during the trial.

The man leading the service called on the community to continue to show courage and patience as the reality of Morris's conviction sinks in.

Fresh floral tributes marking the third anniversary last Thursday of the brutal killings have been laid outside the family home in Kelvin Road.

Reverend Tim Hewitt, the church's vicar, held the funeral for the four victims and was asked by relatives to be their media spokesman in the weeks following the tragedy.

He said the loss of Mrs Power and her family was still affecting the community.

A floral tribute marks the third anniversary of the killings

But his advice for his congregation was to continue watching the course of the judicial process unfold.

The village a few miles north of Swansea is divided over Morris's conviction for the extraordinarily vicious crime which shocked the nation.

Some still point the finger at Mrs Power's secret lover, Alison Lewis, who was a serving policewoman at the time of the murders.

She along with her ex-husband and his twin brother, also both serving police officers were held in July 2000 and questioned about the killings.

Friday's unanimous jury verdict has done little to quell suspicions that people other than Morris were involved in either the killings or the near-successful attempt to clean the scene of forensic evidence.

'Show courage'

But Rev Hewitt urged the community to be patient.

"I think they have learnt to be patient and to show courage, and to wait for things to take their course.

"And I think the community will carry on it that way, being patient.

"When it wants to draw a line under the events, what I think it wants to do is to have the time and the space to begin a new step forward."

Meanwhile, David Morris's girlfriend is recovering at home in the north of England after taking an overdose of sleeping tablets.

Thirty-three year-old Mandy Jewell was admitted to hospital in Swansea shortly after sentence was announced.

But she was discharged on Saturday and returned to her native Halifax.