PRAYERS have been said in Scotland for the family of Southampton civil engineer Hugh MacDonald who died from knife wounds following a stabbing at his Hedge End home on Saturday.

The body of father-of-three Mr MacDonald, 53, was discovered by emergency services in his large £300,000 executive home at Billington Gardens in Hedge End early on Saturday morning.

He had suffered wounds from a kitchen knife.

His 51-year-old wife Fiona, a police civilian worker originally from Inverness, lay badly hurt nearby. She had suffered stab wounds to her hand.

She was taken to Southampton General Hospital and is due to be discharged in the next couple of days. It is believed relatives travelled from Inverness to be at her bedside.

On Sunday, prayers were said for the family in the Catholic church in Mrs MacDonald's home village of Dornie near Kyle of Lochalsh.

Local priest James McNeil confirmed that Mrs MacDonald was a parishioner at the church when the family lived in Dornie and that he knew the family quite well.

He said: "This is a very traumatic time for the MacDonald family so we certainly prayed for them at church on Sunday."

But other friends and relatives in the village have remained tight-lipped about the incident.

Both Mrs MacDonald's father, Donald Maclennan, and his sister, Caroline Dreghorn, declined to comment. The MacDonalds lived in Billington Gardens for 13 years.

Mr MacDonald, a father-of-three, often worked abroad.

Yesterday, a 16-year-old boy was remanded in custody for seven days in connection with the killing of Mr MacDonald.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared at Southampton Youth Court charged with the murder of Mr MacDonald and the attempted murder of Mrs MacDonald.