The day when a quiet sun-soaked morning turned into bloodshed...
It began as a peaceful summer early morning – but the calm was shattered as word of the horrific double murder spread.
Alma Street in Forton was swamped with police and residents gathered around the strictly-guarded cordons to get a glimpse of the aftermath of the killings.
Lying on the floor of adjoining Forton Road was a blood-soaked sweater and a trail of drops of blood led back towards the house where the murders took place.
Just 20 or so yards from the bloodied sweater were three bunches of flowers laid by a close friend of Matthew Stacey.
Many residents living in the roads surrounding the crime scene were inside the police cordon and stayed inside their homes while dozens of officers combed the area just outside their windows.
In the early afternoon, one woman whose house was in the sealed-off section of Alma Street popped out to put her rubbish in the bin and police had to shout to stop her for fear the bin could contain some traces of evidence.
Word of the killings spread quickly through the close-knit community while officers carried out door-to-door enquiries trying to piece together what had happened.
Soon the news was all over the borough and the humid afternoon was dominated by talk of the day's tragic event.
Leader of the council Councillor Mark Hook said: 'The community is in shock. Over the years crime has been falling in Gosport and these sorts of crimes are very rare.
'There's been absolutely nothing else talked about in Gosport – text messages were going around and the Facebook website was flooded with messages.'
Residents crowded around the crime scene and the names of possible victims were flying around – while gossip led some to inaccurately claim there had been four murders and the victims had been shot.
At 3pm, Rebecca Dickinson, 19, returned to her home in Whitworth Road after a couple of days away.
Living just a hundred yards from the spot where one of the suspects was wrestled to the floor, the cafe worker was worried by what she had returned home to.
'It's really scary to come back home and realise what's happened,' she said.
'It really makes me think twice about leaving home alone, I've never heard of anything like this.'
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Portsmouth
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 13 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 24 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: South
