DJ, 50, pleads guilty to the murder of his partner's 'one in a million' mother and the attempted murder of his partner

A DJ today pleaded guilty to the murder of his partner's 'one in a million' mother who had gone to save her daughter and grandchildren from domestic violence.

Wendy Francis, 61, was stabbed by Damian Homer and died despite the efforts of paramedics to save her. 

Her last words were to say, 'I love you' to her five year old grandson who was watching the horror unfold from the stairs.

Damian Homer, 50, also admitted the attempted murder of his partner Stacey Hill, a 38-year-old paramedic, at their home in Worcester on March 2.

Dressed in an Adidas t-shirt, the killer entered his guilty plea via videolink from HMP Hewell.

He was told by Judge Rupert Mayo that he would not pass sentence for such a serious offence by a videolink and ordered he appear in person before the court at a future date.

The Judge told him: 'There is only one sentence I can give which is Life but I have to consider the minimum term before any parole.

'I will decide that when I have read all the documents in this case including the psychiatric report.

'It is only right for those who are the victims of your crimes should see you in court to be sentenced.'

Homer attacked his partner at the home they shared with their two young children on the evening of March 2.

Hearing of his behaviour, Wendy told her daughter to leave and bring the grandchildren with her but when she heard nothing more, she went to investigate.

Burly Homer had already attempted to kill Ms Hill and left her with life threatening injuries.

The pair had met at one of the discos he used to put on with his sound system in Worcester and the surrounding area.

Homer was a married father-of-three at the time but left his wife, who happened to play in the same skittles team as both Wendy and Stacey.

He and Stacey had two children, who were aged five and three at the time of the attack.

Wendy's family revealed how they had suffered a double tragedy on that fateful day.

One of Wendy's three sisters Tracy had also gone to the house out of concern for her sister and was with her as paramedics tried in vain to save her life. The next day, she died of an aneurism.

One of the sisters, Karen, said: 'He took two of my sisters away that day. In fact, you could say he killed the family.

'Tracy was the youngest and Wendy and she were so close.

'Then within 24 hours of being there with the paramedics, she was dead, from an aneurism and a heart attack.

'She was down there watching the paramedics working on her sister, trying to bring her back. She was on the phone to me crying all night and the next day we saw her die in hospital.

'They put Wendy and Tracy in the same plot of ground. They were so close. They would go on holiday together – the four of them Wendy, Tracy and their husbands, Steve and Gary.'

Wendy, who was married to Steve Francis, was also the perfect grandmother.

Karen said: 'She would cook roast dinners for them every week. She would look after the kids, she was the perfect Grandma. And then he went and stabbed her.'

The family are still unsure of just what happened and hope to find out more details at his sentencing.

Paul Lloyd, Wendy's brother in law, said: 'Earlier in the night Stacey had rung her Mum to say they were arguing and then Wendy turned round to Stacey and said, go home and get my babies, that's her grandkids, and bring them up here. And she said, 'Nah, it's alright Mum, I can handle it.'

'An hour later or so, Stacey rang Tracy, by all accounts by accident, and then Tracy rang Wendy and Wendy went down there and never returned.

'When Tracy couldn't get hold of Wendy to find out what was happening, that's when she went down there and found the paramedics.'

Agonisingly, the whole scene had been witnessed by at least one of the couple's young children.

The kids saw what he'd done to Wendy,' said Karen, who is disabled. 'They thought they were in bed but they weren't.

'Little George was sitting on the stairs. The last words Wendy said was: 'George I love you' and then she went.

'Wendy had only done what any mother would do and tried to protect her daughter.

'Wendy was just wonderful. When I had a fall at 4am and needed her, she came round.

'She was with our Mum every day when she was ill and she died last July. She was the heart of our family.

'Wendy was a really good mum to her kids and she loved her grandkids.'

The family said that Wendy had recently been made redundant from her job at a Farm Shop and had just received the all-clear from bowel cancer.

It was not the first time that Homer had attacked Stacey.

In June 2020 he subjected her to a frenzied assault after downing a litre and a half of vodka.

He chipped her tooth and left her needing stitches but he was spared jail by Judge Jame Burbidge KC.

He said: 'The really aggravating feature is that she was holding two children at the time who fell to the floor with her. The blood coursed from the injury to her eye and dripped onto the children.'

The judge sentenced him to six months in prison suspended for two years and also made a community order to include 60 rehabilitation activity requirement days and 80 hours of unpaid work.

As Homer was leaving court the judge said: 'When you lose your temper you should think about what spared you from prison - it was Stacey Hill.'

Karen added: 'He'd already attacked Stacey before and he should have been sent to jail for that. It might have done him good, made him realise there were consequences to how he behaved.

'The judge let him off with community service because he said he was such a good dad. He should have been sent to prison.

'It might have learnt him a lesson, it might have saved Wendy's life but it's all hindsight now.

'She looked after all of us in this family. What he did has broken all our hearts.'