THE PARENTS of murdered Harlow mum-to-be Eystna Blunnie have praised the decision to name her and her unborn daughter Rose in an official report into their deaths.

Names of the victims in domestic homicide reviews- which are carried out by community safety partnerships to ensure agencies are responding appropriately to victims of domestic violence – are usually excluded to protect the identities of those involved. Only the names of the chairman and members of the review panel are included.

But Miss Blunnie’s family, supported by Harlow MP Robert Halfon, asked for their names to be included so that “lessons are learned”.

Last month, Home Secretary Teresa May said the anonymity clause would not be applied in this case and the review was published this week.

In a joint statement Kevin and Sue Blunnie said: “It had been a long hard struggle for our family to get the decision that has been made by the Home Secretary.

“We are very pleased with her decision that both Eystna and Rose can be named in the report and thank her for the kind words she has sent our family.

“We would also like to thank Robert Halfon and his staff for their tireless work in this matter also. We would like to thank Jackie Sully of Rainbow Services, Janet Dalrymple and the staff at Safer Places Harlow, Frank Mullane of AAFDA (Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse) and Malcolm Morley and his staff of Harlow Council. Without these people’s help our family would probably not got the decision that has now been made.

“We think that the right decision has been made and now our daughter Eystna and our granddaughter Rose have a voice alongside each other in this domestic homicide review report. Now this report has been published it is important that lessons are learned from this review so people’s lives are saved.”

Miss Blunnie was killed by her former partner Tony McLernon, who was jailed for life with a recommendation that he stays behind bars for at least 27 years.

The Domestic Homicide Review report following the murder of Eystna Blunnie and her unborn child Rose Louise Blunnie two years ago has been published by the Safer Harlow Partnership.

The review report can be viewed on the Essex Safeguarding Adults Board website: www.essexsab.org.uk.

The recommendations made in the report will be driven forward by the Harlow Domestic Abuse Forum.