A mother has been hailed as a hero after she saved a child's life moments before being killed in a grenade explosion allegedly detonated by her ex-boyfriend. Joanne Shaw, 35, sent the youngster to play outside on a trampoline when a serious argument erupted in the early hours of Sunday morning, a neighbour has revealed.
Details of the Incident
Ryan Kelly, 41, is said to have forced his way into Ms Shaw's home in Sterncourt Road, Bristol, and detonated the explosive device at 6.32am on Sunday, killing both himself and Ms Shaw. Police had been called 15 minutes earlier to report a domestic-related incident and were informed at 6.30am that a man was believed to be in possession of an explosive device. The blast also injured three other individuals, believed to be Ms Shaw's son and two other family members, but they have since been discharged from hospital.
Neighbour Accounts
Stuart Blanchard, a neighbour, told The Mirror: "I spoke to the guy who called 999 and he said the child was out on the trampoline. It will haunt them. She probably told the child to go out there to get out of the way of them arguing. I was woken to her shouting 'go away, go away' and then there was this loud boom that shook my door and windows." He added that Kelly arrived at the property in a "mental state" and that Ms Shaw had moved to her parents' home to escape him.
Another neighbour described hearing a loud bang and initially assuming it was a gas explosion. "A neighbour of mine said he saw an ambulance crew giving CPR to two people outside in the street shortly afterwards. It's the little boy I feel so desperately sorry for. It's devastating to know that he'll grow up without his mother," he told the Daily Mail.
Family Tributes
Ms Shaw's uncle, John Shaw, 76, expressed his devastation: "My younger brother Anthony rang me to tell me that she'd been killed and that her ex had let a grenade off in the house. I couldn't believe what I was hearing and am still struggling to make sense of all this. We called my niece Joey. She was a wonderful woman and a great mother." He added: "The man who did this is the scum of the earth and it's a good job he died because otherwise I'd have killed him myself."
A friend of Ms Shaw's mother said that when she heard the blast, she "just knew it had to be" something to do with Ryan Kelly, describing Ms Shaw as "the loveliest, kindest lady" who "didn't deserve this".
Kelly's Criminal History
The Daily Mail revealed that Kelly was jailed for five years in 2015 after admitting conspiracy to supply cocaine as part of a drugs gang likened to the TV show Breaking Bad. The plot was masterminded by 78-year-old George Rogers, who ran the operation from prison despite battling cancer. Rogers recruited a self-taught chemist to set up a lab to make crystal meth, but the plan was foiled by undercover police before drugs could flood the south west of England.
A relative of Kelly's extended family expressed shock: "I had a telephone call from another family member to say that Ryan had died. She told me that he had taken his own life and I was really shocked."
