Devastated daughter of Gosport man who died in tragic argument with his brother Mark Oliver speaks of traumatic ordeal
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Scaffolder Andrew Oliver, 53, bled to death after suffering five stab wounds during an altercation with his older brother Mark Oliver, 56, at their family home in Harwood Road, Bridgemary, on February 1.
A jury last week found Mark Oliver, 56, not guilty of murder, clearing him after a 10-day trial at Winchester Crown Court.
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Hide AdNow Andrew’s youngest daughter Amy has spoken out about her heartbreak following her father’s death and the trauma of coming to terms with the tragedy which has ‘split her family in two’.
Speaking exclusively to The News, the tearful 32-year-old civil servant said: ‘I’ve been struggling every day since dad’s death. I still can’t believe he has gone.
‘Me and my sister, Lucy, are both getting counselling for what’s happened and I don’t see that ending anytime soon because this trial was like reliving it all again.
‘Our lives have been turned upside down and we don't know how to deal with it all.
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Hide Ad‘Dad will never experience his grandchildren Charlie and Ruby’s first day of school and their only memories of him will be reduced to photographs.
‘We have to explain that to them over and over again that they will never be able to see granddad again. It’s heartbreaking.
‘I’m not yet married but I’ve always dreamed of having my dad walk me down the aisle. He was looking forward to it and always used to say to me “when are you giving me grandchildren then?”.
‘Now I haven’t got a chance to ever do that. I miss him every day.’
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Hide AdCourageous Amy, who lives in Glasgow with her older sister, recounted the moment the pair were told of their dad’s death – and the emotional upheaval of clearing his ‘blood-stained’ room.
‘We were crying our eyes out as we were packing away his clothes,’ she said. ‘There was food still on the floor, the bedding was covered in blood, the carpet on the way in the door was covered in blood, we didn’t know what to do.’
She added the horror of her dad’s death had ‘tainted’ happy memories growing up in Bridgemary as a child.
‘I don’t think we will ever be able to go there again, it’s just too painful,’ she said.
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Hide AdBut Amy said the sisters’ memories have not all been ruined.
While clearing out their dad’s possessions from his room, they found boxes packed full of treasured family photos and letters, which the siblings now cherish.
‘It’s amazing to have this,’ added Amy. ‘I always knew he was very “lovey-dovey” and you’d feel like your ribs were going to break every time he hugged you because he just had so much love in him. He was a sentimental big softie.’
Amy and her sister moved away from Bridgemary at the age of seven after their parents split up four years earlier.
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Hide AdBut she said her dad never lost touch with them, sending them emails ‘daily’, which Amy now treasures.
‘Every day we would get an email from him. I wished that we lived closer to him.
‘I’ve had to turn off my email notifications now because every time I hear a ping I think it’s something from him.’
Amy, who now shares her dad’s beloved Staffordshire bull terrier Bert with her sister, said her father was a ‘warm-hearted joker’ who ‘wanted a quiet life’ and ‘loved his family’.
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Hide Ad‘He was a free spirit who just had this fun energy about him, he always went out of his way to make things fun and exciting,’ she said. ‘I can’t believe he is gone.’
Andrew leaves behind his two daughters, grandchildren Charlie, five, and Ruby, three, his mother and three siblings.