The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Two brothers whose mum and sister were murdered by their dad before he turned the gun on himself say the book they’ve published helped bring them closer together.
Luke and Ryan Hart released Operation Lighthouse on Thursday, July 19, the second anniversary of the shooting of Clare (50) and Charlotte Hart (19) by Lance Hart (57) outside the Castle Sports Complex in Spalding.
By talking about the relationships they had with their father, they hope to raise awareness of the signs of an abusive relationship.
Ryan said: “We never intended to write or release a book. The whole process began as we found it difficult to talk about what happened.
“Luke’s way of talking to me for over a year was by writing things down.
“This process of analysis showed me what he was thinking and that’s how we communicated our tragedy for quite a while.
“Surrey Police asked us to come in to share stories to help officers realise what signs to look for in domestic abuse cases.
“This made us realise that the book was something that we needed to do.
“The whole process of writing the book brought us closer together. It’s the most time we’ve spent together in a long time.
“What’s really pleasing now is having people who have read the book come back to us and tell us their thoughts.
“That’s exactly why we’re doing this, so people get to see what happened and can spot the dangers of coercive control and domestic abuse.”
Operation Lighthouse is the name the police gave to the incident.
“The name didn’t really have any significance to us for a year,” Ryan continued.
“We were just surviving when we started to write this book, but then we realised the significance and the metaphor the lighthouse played.
“A key component of our book is how difficult it is for someone to get out of an abusive relationship.
“Hopefully the book can help shine a light on the signs that a relationship is abusive. People often need something to guide them to safety much like a lighthouse guides a ship at night.
“We’re looking to raise awareness of the signs so people can step in and help.
“Our father was the only one we knew. It’s only now we can see the issues.”
Today both Ryan and Luke are re-building their lives in Surrey.
Ryan (27) is working shifts on an oil rig while Luke (28) is working in technology.
The pair have started the Coercion and Control Awareness organisation in memory of Claire and Charlotte.
“We needed each other and are looking after the two family dogs. It’s worked out very well.”
Operation Lighthouse has a foreword by Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn.
“The day we heard back from him that he’d provide the foreword gave me the biggest cheer I’d had in a long time,” Ryan added. “I think he was inspired by our story and wanted to get behind it.”
Operation Lighthouse is available for £6.99 on eBook and £10.99 in paperback from Amazon.
