Mass for victims of Jersey killings

Hundreds of people turned out to pay their respects to the six people murdered in a knife attack in Jersey last weekend.

The Requiem Mass at St Thomas’ church in St Helier was celebrated by Monsignor Nicholas France, Catholic Dean in Jersey, and Fr Stanislaw Adamiak, acting chaplain to the Polish Catholic Mission in Jersey.

The victims have been named locally as Izabela Rzeszowska, her two children, Kinga and Kacper, and her father Marek Garstki.

Marta de la Haye, a close friend of Mrs Rzeszowska, and her young daughter Julia were also killed in the attack in St Helier on Sunday.

Mrs Rzeszowska’s husband, Damian Rzeszowska, is accused of carrying out the attack and remains in hospital where he is being treated for self-inflicted knife wounds.

Mr Rzeszowski is alleged to have spent the night in hospital weeks earlier after a failed suicide attempt.

It is reported that the couple were having problems in their marriage.

Addressing the congregation at last night's Mass, Fr Adamiak said: “At the very beginning it was a feeling of disbelief over what happened and, of course, a feeling of great pity for such a loss of human life.

“Also that it happened here, in the place where we live, and that it happened to us Poles which also caused us a bit of a feeling of shame.”

Monsignor France said: "Sometimes we would be better rather than trying to explain everything just to accept that we cannot and some things are beyond us."