A mum and her two young children who died in a house fire that destroyed their home in the early hours of Boxing Day have been pictured.

Fionnghuala Shearman, known to friends as Nu, perished alongside daughter Eve, seven, and son Ohner, four, as flames swept through their home on Brimscombe Hill, near Stroud. Her husband Tom, a serving Gloucestershire police officer, who tried to save the family remains in hospital.

Emergency services were called to the property at about 3am where Mr Shearman had attempted to rescue his family but was beaten back by the severity of the fire.

The mum and two children tragically died in the fire

Detective Superintendent Ian Fletcher told reporters outside Gloucestershire Police HQ that the parents had been awoken by the fire and had attempted to reach their children in the rear bedroom. “They have been unable to get to the back bedroom due to the voracity of the fire,” he said.

“The father has smashed his way out of the house through a bathroom window in order to try to access the children’s bedroom via the outside. He has been unable to enter the property via that bedroom window.

“He has then tried to re-enter the property through the bathroom window, by which stage the fire has taken hold in the bathroom and he’s unable to get back into the upstairs bedrooms. He has subsequently gone downstairs and tried to force entry via the front and the back door but has been unable to get back inside to the property.

The Shearmans had been married for around a decade
“It is at this point our colleagues from emergency services have attended and have started managing and dealing with that fire.” Mr Fletcher said the fire was believed to have started on the ground floor and investigations were ongoing to establish the cause, but it was not being treated as suspicious.

Mrs Shearman, originally from Cheltenham, who had run a business called Hide and Hammer making bags, regularly posted photographs of her family on social media, and is understood to have been a keen runner alongside her husband.

The extent of the fire caused the roof of the mid-terrace Cotswold stone cottage to fall in and the ceilings and stairs have collapsed. “We are not treating this as a suspicious incident at this time,” Mr Fletcher said. “This would appear to be a tragic accident that’s occurred in the early hours of Boxing Day.

Damage to the property following the fire ( 
Image:
PA)

“They tried their hardest to get in there and do whatever was necessary, and they continue to work extremely hard to support the recovery of the unfortunate loss of life.”

A spokesman for the Gloucestershire Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, said: “This is an unimaginable tragedy to have struck a colleague and their family and our hearts are broken for them. It is impossible for us all to properly comprehend and come to terms with what has happened.

“The Federation are offering as much support as is possible to our colleague at this deeply saddening time. We are also supporting devastated colleagues and teammates of the officer concerned. We know the whole police family across the UK – indeed the whole of the UK – will be offering their condolences. And we thank those who have already passed on their thoughts and support. It is appreciated.”