“The future we were supposed to live with my brother no longer exists”
The heartbroken older sister of murder victim Matthew Phillips has revealed the pain and anguish suffered by her family after his “horrific” and “horrendous” death. She spoke before Timothy Tinson was jailed for life for murdering her 44-year-old brother on January 4.
Tinson was originally due to face a trial accused of murdering Mr Phillips but he changed his plea to guilty on the day that a jury was due to begin hearing the case at Hull Crown Court. Tinson, 43, of Lairgate, Beverley, entered a not guilty plea to the charge during a mention hearing as recently as last week.
Katherine Phillips told Tinson in a statement that she read to the court: “I ask you to open your heart and receive the impact of your actions on the people who loved Matthew. On January 4, you chose to take my brother’s life in a distressing, senseless and incomprehensible way.
“You have not only taken Matthew’s life but you have also taken a part of my life which can never be restored. It is not just myself who is impacted but I stand here on behalf of all the people who loved Matthew.
“Matthew, a son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin, uncle, friend – and should be alive right now. Matthew is loved. His life mattered. My family’s world collapsed and our lives changed forever, at the hands of the defendant.
“As a family, we have been in a living nightmare since January 4. It has been the most painfully difficult time in my life and that of my family.
“Your horrific, brutal and irreversible decision and action to take my brother Matthew’s life has sent painful and irreparable shockwaves to the lives of so many. The nature of Matthew’s death and his loss is ineffable and incomprehensible.
“I remember the moment when I was plunged into a living nightmare on answering a phone call from my sister Rosina, who said: ‘Matthew’s been murdered in Beverley.’ The immense heart-shattering pain in my chest and the loudest tinnitus-like noise in my head overwhelmed me – and the physical pain I still carry.
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“My body and mind out of sync, as the delay in my ability to process what was being said. Then my default was to move into my role as big sister to console my younger sister as the anguish, pain and grief built in her voice. You can’t imagine anyone could do such a thing.
“We’re shattered. We’re hurting deeply and still trying to understand how this could have happened. I continue to see and feel the deep pain and heartbreak of my two younger brothers and three younger sisters and try to console them in their grief.
“Everything is different. I feel unsafe, I am physically, mentally and emotionally living in fear. It’s incapacitating, grief is so isolating, the heartache is crippling.
“Exhausting levels of anxiety, feeling lost and mentally drained. Some days, tears just fall from my eyes and, some days, I have a hard time focusing. My mental and physical health has meant that I have not been able to work since the day Matthew died and I have suffered the financial burden that comes with it.
“I have lain awake many nights and I have had horrific nightmares. I cannot block out what he did to Matthew. I imagined it and, during my days, I am faced with the living nightmares of the pain-shattering impact on my loved ones and dealing with difficult tasks, arranging funerals for my father and Matthew.
“I should never have to write a eulogy for my little brother Matthew. Matthew was a big brother to Thomas, Maria, Rosina, Harold and Hilary, who have all been deeply impacted. An uncle to Liam, Ethan and Ava-Mai and Oscar, but Matthew will not see them grow.
“We are all trying to understand and deal with this as best we can. It’s placed a strain on our relationships as we are all at different stages and not wanting to burden each other. Our family feels at times like it’s falling apart. It feels empty and broken, our family, without our brother Matthew.
“Matthew is deeply missed but his memory will live on in our hearts forever. I am sick at the thought of how scared, frightened and alone Matthew must have been, that the last moments of his life were not with loved ones but frightened, defenceless and fighting for his life. It breaks my heart that he had no family with him.
“There is no comfort in the way he died. I hate that I wasn’t there to save him. The defendant took Matthew’s hopes and dreams, his life – and his future no longer exists.
“The future we were supposed to live with my brother no longer exists. All the birthdays and special occasions missed. All the milestones of his family, especially his nieces and nephews.
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“The painful impact of what you have done will never end. So many lives have been affected. And the pain will never go away.
“The horrendous murder of my brother Matthew is in my mind all the time and will be for the rest of my life, a lifetime which feels hard to beat.
“We miss Matthew every single day. But his memory will always be with us, in our hearts, and in everything we do. Our lives will never be the same.
“My family and I feel like we are serving life sentences. No sentence can ever reflect the value of lives lost and can never bring Matthew back. My hope is that it may help us to find some peace to be able to lay Matthew to rest in peace.”