A COWRA man who made a name for himself as a professional photographer capturing the smiling faces of school children was still trying to come to grips yesterday with the murder of two of the children he photographed last week at St Raphael’s Central School.

Cliffe Dykes was cast into focus yesterday because he took what are believed to be the last photographs of two children, aged seven and five, who were among the three victims of brutal axe murders inside a Brougham Street, Cowra cottage about 2pm on Monday.

Mr Dykes, known throughout NSW as the man behind the camera taking official school year book photos, related how he’d taken photographs of a brother and sister, innocent victims of the axe attack the school was talking about yesterday morning.

The photographer said his own daughter had children at St Raphael’s where the two deceased children were going to school.

“I took photographs of children at St Raphael’s last Tuesday,” Mr Dykes said. “There were photographs of the two children, individually and in groups. Two beautiful young children ...”

During his years as a professional photographer with a shop in Cowra, Mr Dykes taken thousands of photos at schools everywhere.

Last week was a typical photographic appointment at the school when he spent the best part of a day at St Raphael’s.

“I have the photographs and printed off copies only this morning,” Mr Dykes told the Western Advocate.

“These are photographs that cannot and will not be released.

“I’ve done copies and delivered them today.”

Mr Dykes indicated copies of the photographs he printed have been handed to police investigating the murders of the three people.

St Raphael’s school principal Michael Gallagher was not unlike Mr Dykes yesterday, unwittingly drawn into the tragedy of the family of a policewoman, 31, who suffered head wounds in an attack after finding her mother, aged about 60, and two children lying dead in the cottage.

“Two students from the infants department of St Raphael’s Central School at Cowra suffered a tragic death yesterday [Monday],” Mr Gallagher said, reading from a prepared statement.

“The children’s family, the school family and the Cowra community will struggle to deal with this loss of young, good lives.

“The Catholic Education Office of Bathurst and Centacare are providing us with guidance and support. We have gathered and will continue to gather in prayerful support of the family and one another.”

n For legal reasons, neither the victims of the Cowra axe murders, nor the accused murderer, can be identified.