A mother has been convicted of killing her four young sons after leaving them alone to go shopping, resulting in a fire breaking out. Deveca Rose faced four counts of manslaughter following a fire that ravaged the ground floor of her mid-terrace home in Sutton, south London, claiming the lives of twin brothers Kyson and Bryson, aged four, and three year old twins Leyton and Logan.
The Old Bailey was informed that the four children perished after a discarded cigarette or overturned tea light ignited a fire. Today, a jury found her guilty of the manslaughter of her four sons after deliberating for three hours and 22 minutes and reaching a majority verdict of 11 to one.
She was acquitted of child cruelty. Judge Mark Lucraft KC described it as a “tragic case” as he postponed sentencing to November 15 and granted Rose continued bail.
During her trial, the court heard she was arrested at the hospital where her children were declared dead and told a police officer: “My kids just died and I’m being f***ing arrested”. She had left the boys alone having returned to a supermarket, the family of five had visited earlier in the day.
CCTV footage of Rose failing to pay for her shopping at Sainsbury’s on the day of the fire was shown to jurors. Rose was seen repeatedly trying to keep two of her children in the trolley, while the other two were observed running around, reports the Mirror.
The mum wasn’t able to purchase all her goods on that trip, but later returned without the children when the fire started.
Prosecutor Kate Lumsdon KC informed the court that the boys tragically lost their lives in a fire, surrounded by rubbish and human waste. She detailed how on December 16, 2021, around 6.30pm, the mother left her children unattended at home to go to Sainsbury’s.
During her absence, neighbours noticed the house was ablaze, with the children trapped inside behind a closed door, Ms Lumsdon explained. She told the jury: “A neighbour kicked in the door but the fire had taken hold to the extent that it was impossible to enter. The fire brigade were called. Many units attended. Using appropriate protective clothing and breathing apparatus firemen put out the fire and entered the house. They found the four boys under a bed in the upstairs front room. They were limp and unconscious. Firemen noted that there was rubbish all over the floor of the house and human excrement. There was a mattress and a door on the stairs.”
Efforts to save the children were made on the pavement outside, but sadly, the jury was informed, there was nothing that could be done, and they were pronounced dead in hospital.
The cause of death was later determined as inhalation of fire fumes. The defendant returned from the supermarket while firefighters were still battling the blaze and she was taken in by a neighbour.
The court heard that the father of the boys had also arrived at the scene. Prosecutor Ms Lumsdon stated that Rose claimed she had left the children with a woman named Jade, which led firefighters to re-enter the house in search of her.
However, the prosecutor informed the jury that there was no evidence of this friend, and thorough investigations concluded that Jade either did not exist or had no involvement in the events of that night. After her arrest, Rose continued to assert in a prepared statement that she had left the children under the care of a friend named Jade.
Ms Lumsdon said: “Despite following all the leads provided by Ms Rose and conducting their own investigations, the police could find no trace of Jade.”
The court was informed that the children were known to social services, but their case was closed three months prior to their deaths. The children’s paternal family had expressed concerns, and their paternal grandmother had seldom visited the house as Rose was reluctant to let her in, the jury was told.
Social services intervened between July and September 2021 after inappropriate behaviour was reported at school, the jury heard.
During a visit in July 2021, a social worker discovered rubbish in the house, a “very strong unpleasant smell” and was concerned that Rose had not been taking care of herself. The jury was informed that Rose did not participate in further planned home visits and the case was closed in September 2021.
The children had not attended school for three weeks leading up to the fire.
In a heart-wrenching courtroom scene, a transcript of Rose’s arrest was read out following the tragic death of her sons in a fire. A police officer informed Rose, “Are you aware there was a fire today at your home address and four children were left in that address? And unfortunately they’ve all passed away, they’re all deceased.”
To which a distraught Rose answered, “Mmhm every single one of my kids are dead.”
On being arrested for child neglect, she responded incredulously, “Neglect? I wasn’t on my own, but okay.”
And when she was told about being handcuffed to preserve forensic evidence, she exclaimed, “My kids just died and I’m being f***ing arrested”.
Prosecutor Ms Lumsdon shared with the jury details from a psychiatrist who diagnosed Rose with “recurrent depressive disorder” and mentioned “clear evidence of deterioration in mental state in the weeks leading up to the incident”. It was noted that Rose, who worked as a carer, was deemed unfit for work since April 2021.
On Tuesday, October 1, following the prosecution’s closing, defence barrister Laurie-Anne Power, KC, declared that Rose would not testify.
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