Daughter discovers former rugby referee and wife dead in Cardiff home alongside family’s cocker spaniel

7 October 2024, 12:03

A married couple have been found dead alongside the family's cocker spaniel by their distraught daughter.

Former rugby referee Steve Jefferies and wife Christine were discovered at their semi-detached home in Cardiff after neighbours grew concerned about not seeing them.

They rang the couple’s daughter who arrived on Saturday to find both parents and their pet cocker spaniel dead from “serious wounds”.

Police have cordoned off the home in the suburb of Trowbridge and launched an investigation into their “sudden deaths”.

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Mr Jefferies was a retired council worker and a former referee and assessor with the Welsh Rugby Union.

His wife used a wheelchair and was believed to be in declining health, although grow vegetables and dig up weeds on an allotment near to their house.

The pairs’ next door neighbour, who did not want to be named, told The Sun: “They were just wonderful people.

“He was a referee years ago. I had known them for 38 years. They were good neighbours and really good friends.

“We got on really well. They were really good when my wife died 18 months ago.

“We noticed something was strange that the curtains hadn’t been opened and that was it.

“We managed to get hold of their daughter and she came and went in.”

A South Wales Police spokesperson said: “An investigation has been launched following the sudden death of two people at a property in Trowbridge, Cardiff.

“Emergency services were called to the house in Morfa Crescent, at around 2.50pm on Saturday.

“The local community is thanked for its patience and understanding while cordons are in place.”

The couple, both aged about 70, had two grown-up children, a son and a daughter, according to neighbours.