Special prayers are being said in the south Wales village for the four "massacred" members of a family whose killer is now in jail.

Mandy Power, 34, her disabled 80-year-old mother and her daughters Katie, 10, and Emily, eight, were battered to death three years ago when builder David Morris embarked on an "orgy of savagery".

A floral tribute marks the third anniversary of the killings

The prayers on Sunday morning at St Mary's Church in Clydach, near Swansea, aim to heal some of the emotional wounds uncovered by the horrifying details revealed during the 11-week trial.

And the man leading the service has called on the community to continue to show courage and patience as the reality of Morris's conviction - by a unanimous 11-person jury - sinks in.

Fresh floral tributes marking the third anniversary last Thursday of the brutal killings have been laid outside the family's home in Kelvin Road.

Tim Hewitt, vicar at St Mary's, held the funeral for the four victims and was asked by relatives to be their media spokesman in the weeks following the tragedy.

He said the loss of Mrs Power and her family is still affecting the community.

Special prayers at the church which held the funeral

But his advice for his congregation is to continue watching the course of the judicial process unfold.

The village a few miles north of Swansea is divided over Morris's conviction for the extraordinarily vicious crime which shocked the nation.

Some still point the finger at Mrs Power's secret lover, Alison Lewis, who was a serving policewoman at the time of the murders.

She along with her ex-husband and his twin brother, also both serving police officers were held in July 2000 and questioned about the killings.

Friday's unanimous jury verdict has done little to quell suspicions that people other than Morris were involved in either the killings or the near-successful attempt to clean the scene of forensic evidence.

The community has learnt patience, Rev Hewitt believes

In addition, Morris's family have said they believe the Craig Cefn Parc builder has good grounds to mount an appeal.

It is against this background that Rev Hewitt believes the community has struck the right balance of grieving for those who suffered while letting the legal process work its course.

He said: "I think they have learnt to be patient and to show courage, and to wait for things to take their course.

"And I think the community will carry on it that way, being patient.

"When it wants to draw a line under the events, what I think it wants to do is to have the time and the space to begin a new step forward."