Father's tribute to drowned wife and daughter

The estranged husband of a woman found drowned with her disabled daughter paid tribute to them yesterday. Nick Richmond, a stockbroker, said the loss of his wife Jude, 41, and stepdaughter Millie Whitehead-Richmond, nine, made him feel as if his "own life was over".

The bodies of Mrs Richmond, a florist, and Millie, who had cerebral palsy, were found on Wednesday in a lake just yards from their home in the village of South Cerney, Gloucestershire. Police broke the news to Mr Richmond – who was separated from his wife – as he arrived back in Britain from New Zealand later that day. "They were everything to me," said Mr Richmond, 45. "It feels like my insides have been ripped out. Everything has changed in the blink of an eye. I don't know how I'm going to cope but I will because you have to." He said that although there had been recent difficulties in his marriage, he was "sure we would have got back together". Detectives have said they are treating the deaths as unexplained.