Police wait over murder suspect

Lisa Higgins and her two daughters were found dead at their home

Police are waiting to question a man following the murder of a mother and her two young daughters at their Black Country home on Christmas Eve.

The bodies of Lisa Higgins, 25, Demmy, three, and Keighley, six, were found with knife wounds in their house in Willenhall, West Midlands.

A post-mortem examination revealed Ms Higgins died of multiple stab wounds.

Police found the bodies after making a routine call following a car crash involving a 27-year-old local man.

West Midlands Police said they believed the man stabbed himself in the stomach before crashing his black Golf GTI car into a tree on the A41 in Shropshire, near Junction 3 of the M54.

Routine call

"The suspect remains in a stable condition in hospital and we do not believe that his injuries are life threatening," said a spokesman.

"He had suffered a puncture wound to his abdomen and other injuries which were consistent with a road accident."

He remains under armed guard at an unnamed Shropshire hospital and was not expected to be questioned on Boxing Day.

Police made the discovery after making a routine call to trace the relatives of the man following the car crash.

The victims were believed to have suffered knife wounds but police were waiting for the results of post-mortem examinations.

'Lively and sociable'

Police could not confirm whether the man was related to Ms Higgins or the two girls, and did not name him.

But neighbour Debbie Bryan, who worked as a barmaid at the nearby Pool Hayes pub, described Ms Higgins and her partner Spencer as lively and sociable.

She said the couple would visit the pub every weekend and let the children play out in the garden.

"They were happy, normal," Ms Bryan added.