'He is scum' - family of Catherine Wells-Burr on killer boyfriend Rafal Nowak

Jayne Wells-Burr, 46, and ex-husband Philip, 48, allowed Nowak to spend the night in their home hours after he was released by police following the discovery of Catherine's body.

But to their horror, just 24 hours later, the man "who became a son" was charged with their daughter's brutal murder.

Jayne said: "He is scum and he has betrayed us so badly.

"When they released him I kept asking police, are you sure he is just a witness, they said 'yes', he was just a witness.

"On hearing that my thoughts were that if Catherine loved him so much, and he was part of our family, then he should return.

"He spent the evening with us. I think Anna and Rafal are both devious, callous, sickening people.

"They should never be allowed out in society again. They can never be corrected inside prison, they are just too evil."

Philip added: "We took him in. He became a son and he betrayed us all.

"That evening there was no emotion at all, he never spoke about Catherine whatsoever, not a word. There were no tears, nothing."

The Wells-Burr family first met Nowak in 2010 when he began dating Catherine after meeting her on the production line at the Numatic International factory in Chard.

Catherine and Nowak continued their relationship until after her graduation from Bath Spa University, when the couple moved in together.

She later became a business analyst for the factory where Nowak, Jayne and Philip and sister Leanne also worked.

The pair appeared to have a perfect relationship, where they "always seemed to be very happy", but secretly Nowak was having an affair with past-girlfriend Anna Lagowinowicz.

Philip said: "They always seemed to be happy, they would do everything together.

"They were always calling each other up every day, in work hours as well, he would find time to cook meals for her, dinners and that.”

"They were always very happy, always used to call each other darling and gorgeous," Jayne added.

An intense relationship developed between Catherine and Nowak and the smitten graduate often spoke of marriage and children with the Polish national.

But despite the comments Jayne maintained Catherine would have broken up with Nowak eventually.

She said: "I wouldn't have said he was the one. I think Catherine would have out grown him.

"She was very career minded, and I think she probably would have had a good job, probably not with him."

Only months after the seemingly happy pair bought a house Catherine was dead, having been smothered by Nowak as she slept, and then burnt in her car by Lagwinowicz and her uncle Dmytryszyn.

The devastated family described the day they discovered Catherine had gone missing.

"Rafal alerted Leanne first with a text message and said could Leanne go and check Catherine's car outside the house," Jayne said.

"Leanne thought Catherine was just been late for work, obviously that was not the case.

"When I got to the house where Catherine lived I just knew something was desperately wrong, I just rang the police straight away.

"I just had that feeling, the mother's instinct, that something was very, very wrong."

Philip added: "I got a phone call just before 10 to say that Catherine's not here at work, I thought I couldn't believe it.

"So I said I'd go to where Rafal worked to find out what was going on. I asked him 'what's going on? Where's Catherine?'

"I asked him where's Catherine and he said, 'she was there when I left her this morning'."

Police visited the family, who were sat in Catherine's living room awaiting her return, at midday where they were told a car, bearing a resemblance to Catherine's had been found.

Jayne said: "They sat us down in Catherine's living room and said they had found this car alight with a body in it and three digits on the chassis matched Catherine's car so they had reasonable concern for us."

She immediately suspected Nowak.

"That day they arrested Rafal Nowak, my thoughts were that he had done it, I told them that.

"They always looked like they loved each other, adored each other. It was just something Rafal said, he said a couple of things to me outside.

"He said to me that he begged her not to go which I thought was a strange thing and he thought he had lost his world and he had lost his future.

"I thought she's just missing, why would you say that, it just didn't make sense and I thought it's not right.

"We had a call at 3pm the following day to say he had been arrested for Catherine's murder.

"We sat down just besides ourselves, the emotions of going up and down all the time, thinking he is innocent then he is not.

"She had a price on her head, I told the police that, really she signed her own death warrant, as soon as she signed the mortgage that was it.

"With Anna doing the profiles that she had done on Catherine it is sickening.

"As a mother we would never want that for our daughter and even what she has done in prison, parading Catherine's remains as a trophy.

"They have hurt us every way they possibly can."

Describing Catherine, she added: "She was a beautiful girl, absolutely beautiful.

"We were so proud when she got her first class degree from Bath Spa University.

"She was a determined, hardworking, beautiful girl.

"We don't know how to carry on without her.

"She had so much to live for, so much potential and there was so much there for her, and she has been robbed. We've been robbed."

The family are now concentrating on The Catherine Wells-Burr foundation, a charity aimed at raising money to provide specialist support workers for families of murder victims.