‘It was a wipeout’: how a family came back from a wife and mother’s murder

Stuart Green at home in Britain. After holding back details of the attack when they were very young, his children now know what he calls the ‘empowering truth’ that ‘their mother died fighting for justice – and they carry her courage forward’. Photograph: Tom Pilston/The Guardian

The dreaded school run is a daily battle for most parents. Even once out of the door and at the school gates, feigned smiles and small talk with other haggard parents can be a mass performance. For Stuart Green, who spent years wrestling his young twins out of car seats and into coats, all the while keeping an eye on his eldest daughter, it was the small talk he dreaded.

“Is Mummy at work?” someone might ask. Green’s response would be a half truth: “I’m a single parent.” The full story could not be explained in a 15-second conversation on the street.