THE wife of a Royal Navy sailor from Wigan, shot dead on a nuclear submarine, said her family had been “cheated” of a husband and father, as she spoke of the “void” he had left in their lives.

Lieutenant Commander Ian Molyneux, 36, was killed on board HMS Astute while it was docked in Southampton last Friday.

His devastated wife, Gillian, and their four children – Jamie, Arron, Bethany, and Charlie – are struggling to come to terms with his death.

“He wasn’t just our foundation but he was our future as well,” she told Sky News. “He was the one that made all the sacrifices worthwhile and, I know, to the children, he was a hero.”

But, fighting back tears, Mrs Molyneux said her son, Charlie, was too young to understand what had happened to his father. “For me, that’s possibly one of the most difficult parts – he won’t have his own memories of Ian.

“I feel like if his death had happened in a more natural military accident, or something happened with the boat, I could probably accept it a bit easier,” she told the broadcaster.

“But I feel myself and my children have been cheated of a husband and a father.”

Able Seaman Ryan Donovan, 22, of Hillside Road, Dartford, Kent, was remanded in custody on Wednesday as he made his first Crown Court appearance accused of Lt Cdr Molyneux’s murder.

He has also been charged with three attempted murders.