Joan Penney murder: Six sentenced to life in Talbot Green shooting

During the sentencing, emotional victim impact statements were read in court.

Cody Griffiths, Joanne Penny’s son, said: “I can’t put into words what has happened to our family.

“To meet the man who brought me into this world and took life from me in such a terrible way is something I will never accept.

“You shot my mom in the heart and you shot her whole family in the heart. I can’t see her or talk to her anymore.”

“She will never begin to think what you took from us. She meant nothing to you, but she meant everything to us.”

“Mom, you can’t see me get married, you’ll never see my kids. Can you imagine life without your mom?”

A statement from Joan Penny’s two teenage daughters was also read.

They said, “We are writing this to the people who killed our mother and to the people who helped explain how you changed our lives forever.

“Being told that our mother was killed is something we will never forget. How could someone do such a cruel thing?

“We felt lost, scared and angry. We still feel that way. Now we ask ourselves why was our mother shot? Was she scared? Did she know what was going on? We can’t stop thinking about her last moments. It must have been horrible for her and painful for us to imagine.”

“We were given boxes of memories but we didn’t have memories to put them in and we never will. We were young father and you took away our mother, our history was taken away.

“We remember her taking us to the beach and giving her ice cream. She was beautiful. We hoped we’d see her again one day, she’d tell us about our childhood and our family, but that hope is gone. That hurt is more than you’ll ever know.”

“You took away not only our mother, but our past, our future and our chance to know who we are and where we came from, leaving us orphaned.

“As grown-ups we will never know her, this future is gone forever. We will live with this pain for the rest of our lives.”

“Please remember that and ask yourself how you would feel as a child if your mother shot you for no reason.”

The court and six defendants also heard a statement read on behalf of Joanne Penny’s mother, Sharon Penny.

She said: “I come from a big, close and happy family, but this terrible thing has affected us all as parents, siblings, children, grandparents, aunts and uncles.

“We are so scared and we miss you so much, it’s hard to see the pain on your three children’s faces because of the loss of their sister, every time I see them I cry.”

“I have nightmares about what happened and I wake up screaming and crying, it’s not a nightmare, it’s real.

“Until today, I have not been able to return home and live with my brother and his wife. I am very afraid to be alone, I am afraid of myself and the depth of my depression.”