UK NEWS

NIGHTMARE THAT SEEMS TO GET WORSE EVERY DAY

Sunday November 18,2007

By Tom Martin

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A DISTRAUGHT mother who lives in the ‘house of horrors’ where two dead teenagers have been found yesterday told of her “nightmare”.

Nicola Downing, 37, and her family moved into the former home of Scottish odd-job man Peter Tobin four years after he left.

Police are continuing their search of the address in Margate, Kent, after finding the body of schoolgirl Vicky Hamilton and what are believed to be the remains of Dinah McNicol.

Vicky, from Redding, near Falkirk, was 15 when she vanished in 1991 – the same year Essex student Ms McNicol, 18, went missing. Their remains were discovered at 50 Irvine Drive after a massive police hunt.

What they have found is awful, and it has turned our family life upside down

Homeowner Nicola Downing

Yesterday, as officers continued their search for more human remains, an ashen-faced Ms Downing, who has lived there 12 years, returned to help.

A crowd of about 100 people watched as Ms Downing, who is now staying in a nearby hotel, was guided into the property by officers with a worried look on her face.

She spent 40 minutes pointing out any work she has done to the house since she moved in 12 years ago.

A police source said her help is vital in the search for clues and more bodies.

A neighbour, who did not want to be named, said: “She’s been terribly shaken by what’s happened. It’s very brave of her to come back to the scene of so much evil. It would take a lot to convince me to do the same.”

Looking solemn, Ms Downing later left the house, walking hand-in-hand with her boyfriend, Mark Drage.

In a statement issued through police, the mother of four told of the trauma she and her family had endured.

She said: “We can only describe it as a nightmare that gets worse every day. We lived in that house for 12 years and we had a happy family home.

“What they have found is awful, and it has turned our family life upside down.

“Moving out of our family home has been traumatic. We feel enormous sympathy for Dinah’s father and for what he is going through.”