Detectives investigate motives of hammer massacre Pc

Detectives are attempting to discover what drove a policeman to killing his wife and two of his sons with a claw hammer before taking his own life.

Different theories are emerging as to what caused Pc Karl Bluestone to batter his wife Jill and the couple's four children in an attack at their home in Kent before hanging himself from the garage door.

Some neighbours raised the possibility he was suffering from depression, while a newspaper report claims Mrs Bluestone planned to leave him for another man.

Other newspaper reports said Pc Bluestone had been having an affair with a female colleague.

Jessica, six, who escaped with minor injuries, was reported to have shouted to neighbours: "My daddy's trying to hurt me."

Pc Bluestone's wife Jill, 31, an accountant with Essex County Council in Basildon, was found dead in the kitchen at the rear of the house by officers. The couple's three-year-old son, Henry, was found dead at the bottom of the stairs.

Chandler, aged 18 months, was discovered in his cot with severe head injuries. He was taken from the three-bedroom 1960s house by police but died later at Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford.

The couple's other son, seven-year-old Jack, who was found outside the house in Gravesend with Jessica has been taken off the critical list at Kings College Hospital, London. Jessica has been discharged from the Darent Valley Hospital.

Pc Bluestone's parents, former Gravesham Borough councillors Greg and Christy, cut short their holiday when police broke the devastating news.

They issued a statement through the police, which said: "We loved our son. He was a man devoted to his children, dedicated to his job and filled with love for his wife." They pleaded to be left in peace.