Fashion designer and two children die in Boxing Day house fire

A fashion designer and her two children have died in a house fire that destroyed their home in the early hours of Boxing Day despite the efforts of her police officer husband to save his family.

Fionnghuala Shearman, known as Nu, died alongside her children, Eve, aged seven, and four-year-old son Ohner.

Her husband, Tom, attempted to rescue his wife and two children but was beaten back by the severity of the fire and was taken to hospital for treatment.

Emergency services were called to a mid-terrace Cotswold stone cottage on Brimscombe Hill, near Stroud, Gloucestershire, at about 3am.

Gloucestershire Police said the father, who survived the blaze, was a serving officer with the force.

Detective Superintendent Ian Fletcher told reporters outside Gloucestershire Police HQ said the mother and father had been awoken by the fire and had attempted to reach their children in the rear bedroom.

“They have been unable to get to the back bedroom due to the voracity of the fire,” he said.

“The father has smashed his way out of the house through a bathroom window in order to try to access the children’s bedroom via the outside.

“He has been unable to enter the property via that bedroom window.

“He has then tried to re-enter the property through the bathroom window, by which stage the fire has taken hold in the bathroom and he’s unable to get back into the upstairs bedrooms.

“He has subsequently gone downstairs and tried to force entry via the front and the back door but has been unable to get back inside to the property.

“It is at this point our colleagues from emergency services have attended and have started managing and dealing with that fire.”

Mr Fletcher said the fire was believed to have started on the ground floor and investigations were ongoing to establish the cause, but it was not being treated as suspicious.

The extent of the fire has destroyed the roof, the ceilings and stairs, as well as causing other significant internal damage.

A body of a woman in her late 30s has been recovered from the house, while the body of a child has been located at the scene.

Mr Fletcher described the anguish the officer is going through at being unable to rescue his wife and children.

“We are not treating this as a suspicious incident at this time,” Mr Fletcher said.

“This would appear to be a tragic accident that’s occurred in the early hours of Boxing Day.

“The surviving member of this family is a serving police officer at Gloucestershire Constabulary and again our hearts and prayers go out to him and all of his colleagues who know him very well.

“He is working with us to try to understand what exactly has happened within that property.”

Mr Fletcher added: “We have multiple witnesses who describe the anguish that he was going through, his inability to get in and save his children and save his wife.

“He is, as you can imagine, in a very distraught way.

“Sadly, lost his family at a time which is supposed to be a happy festive period.”

Mr and Mrs Shearman were registered as living at the property.

She ran bespoke handbag manufacturer Hide & Hammer making fashion accessories from leather and canvas fabric.

A friend of the family told the Daily Mail that what happened was “absolutely shocking”.

“We are all shellshocked to be honest with you,” they told the newspaper.

“We don’t know what happened (to cause the fire).”

Nathaniel Hooton, deputy chief fire officer of Gloucestershire Fire & Rescue Service, said the house was well ablaze when crews arrived.

“It was extremely challenging and they were faced with a well-developed serious fire on arrival,” he said.

“Trying to make their way into the building, trying to rescue the occupants within that building, and also dealing with everything else that was going on.

“They tried their hardest to get in there and do whatever was necessary, and they continue to work extremely hard to support the recovery of the unfortunate loss of life.”

A spokesman for the Gloucestershire Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, said: “This is an unimaginable tragedy to have struck a colleague and their family and our hearts are broken for them.

“It is impossible for us all to properly comprehend and come to terms with what has happened.

“The federation are offering as much support as is possible to our colleague at this deeply saddening time.”