Woodmancote murders: Tributes paid to mother and daughters

Kelly Fitzgibbons, 40, and her children Ava, four, and Lexi Needham, two, were killed by her partner Robert Needham, 42, on March 29, 2020 at their home in Woodmancote.

An inquest in Horsham today, Tuesday, July 12, heard that he killed them with a shotgun before turning the gun on himself.

Horsham and West Sussex assistant coroner Bridget Dolan read out tributes to the three victims written by Ms Fitzgibbons’ twin sister Emma Ambler.

Kelly Fitzgibbons, four-year-old Ava Needham and two-year-old Lexi Needham

A photograph of the three was put on display on the coroner’s desk while the tribute was read.

Miss Ambler said: “Kelly and I had an idyllic and happy childhood and we would spend hours playing together, making up dance routines and plays to show the family.

“In school Kelly had lots of friends, she did well and school came easy to her.

“Nobody made me laugh as much as Kelly. She was an amazing sister. She was so caring and she treated my children like her own.

Robert Needham and Kelly Fitzgibbons

“Kelly longed for children for a number of years so she was thrilled when she fell pregnant. They were her whole world and she was so proud of those beautiful girls.

“We always said we couldn’t live without each other so her loss is still incomprehensible to me and our father.

"We will ensure Kelly lives on because there’s no way we could forget her.

“She really was one in a million and I take comfort in the fact that she was by my side as my sister and my best friend for 40 years.”

Duffield Lane, Woodmancote

Miss Ambler also paid tribute to her nieces Ava, who she described as “beautiful and angelic”, and Lexi, who was “cheeky” and had the “signature Fitzgibbons curly hair”.

Tributes to the family on behalf of Needham’s family were also read out, calling Ms Fitzgibbons the “heart of the family”, sharing their love for Ava and Lexi, and describing what happened as a “diabolical tragedy”.