PRAYERS were being said at St George’s, Benenden, Kent, this week for Caroline Andrews, a part-time teacher at Benenden Church of England Primary School, who was found dead at her home on Thursday of last week, aged 52. The police later detained Mrs Andrew’s husband, Stuart, a 54-year-old IT consultant, who was in hospital being treated for serious injuries.

After a post-mortem on Friday, police said that they were treating their investigation of Mrs Andrews’s death as a murder inquiry. The couple, who had four teenage children, started renting a bungalow in Benenden less than two years ago. They formerly lived in Eynsford.

The Vicar of Benenden, the Revd David Commander, said that the couple were not regular churchgoers, but that four members of the church family regularly helped Mrs Andrews care for her elderly father, Richard Breed, who suffered from dementia and lived with the couple. “It is sad for the school and for the community. We are trying to come to terms with what has happened.”

A book of condolences was opened at the church last weekend.