IF ONLY is a true and heartbreaking mother's account of her family struck by tragedy and evil. Lynne and John were the proud parents of three children, Chris, Ian and Sarah. They were a happy and ordinary family who lived in a quiet village in Northumberland where nothing out of the ordinary ever happened, until the night of February 11th 2003 when their lives were torn apart. Fourteen year old Sarah, their youngest child and only daughter, was a popular and bright girl and although she possessed confidence and a bubbly personality, she showed signs of anxiety at any changes in her life. She suffered from Separation Anxiety from her mother, due to certain factors within her family and because of this, school became a problem, but with the support of her family and teachers, she eventually overcame her fears. She began to look to the future and potential career options, only to have them snatched from her in the most violent and cruellest of ways. IF ONLY allows the reader to come to know Sarah, then to enter deeply into the grief stricken world of this tragic family as they are given the news of their daughter's death and the long and torturous road they must travel to deal with the investigation, Crown Court and the aftermath of losing a most precious child to rape and murder. It is an honest and heartfelt account of the deepest and darkest emotions that no family should ever be forced to endure.
