Clydach murder inquiry fast-tracked after new evidence emerges

Mandy Power died with her daughters Katie and Emily and her mother Doris Dawson

An urgent inquiry is being launched into the murder of a mother, her two children and grandmother at their home near Swansea 15 years ago.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission has given "priority one" status to the case of convicted killer David Morris.

He was jailed for life for the second time in 2006 for killing Mandy Power and her family in Clydach after a prior conviction was quashed.

His lawyers have compiled a dossier of new evidence to appeal his conviction.

Morris' trial heard he had a sexual relationship with Ms Power and was fuelled by drink and drugs when he went on a killing spree in June 1999.

Mrs Dawson, who was 80, was killed as she lay helpless in her bed, and the killer laid in wait for the others to return home.

Ms Power and her daughters were battered repeatedly with a fibreglass pole which the children used to play with, and Ms Power's body was sexually assaulted.

The scene was described as "carnage" in court, with the judge adding: "Words cannot convey the severity of the injuries inflicted upon them."

David Morris has called for fresh DNA tests to be carried out

The killer lit fires around the house in an attempt to hide the crimes. Firefighters found the bodies of Ms Power and the girls laid out on the landing when they came to tackle the blaze.

Before Morris was arrested, suspicion had fallen on Ms Power's secret lover Alison Lewis, a former South Wales Police officer, and her husband Stephen Lewis, a serving officer.

They were arrested but never charged.

The Mail on Sunday previously reported that fresh evidence had emerged which was not heard at Morris's trial after a journalism lecturer took up the case.