Valerie French’s brother David: ‘It’s like I said after the trial, killing a mother is child abuse. It’s so incredibly obvious’

On a warm summer’s day, Valerie French had been in work when she received a call from her childminder to say her eldest son had turned up at her home, having not being collected from school, as her husband James Kilroy had agreed. After Valerie left work early and collected their son, they arrived home and she rustled up a frozen pizza.