A mother-of-six murdered her two teenage sons the day after a bid to poison them failed.<\/p>\n
Sarah Barrass, along with family member Brandon Machin, strangled Tristan and Blake Barrass, aged 13 and 14, in Shiregreen, Sheffield, on 24 May.<\/p>\n
The court heard how Barrass, 35, would regularly tell her children: “I gave you life, I can take it away.”<\/p>\n
Barrass and 39-year-old Machin are being sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court.<\/p>\n
They have both previously admitted murder, conspiracy to murder all six of her children, including Blake and Tristan, and five counts of attempted murder.<\/p>\n
The court heard the pair hatched the plot to kill the children because Barrass feared they would be taken into care.<\/p>\n
They had unsuccessfully tried to poison the four eldest the night before, by forcing them to take ADHD tablets.<\/p>\n
Kama Melly QC, prosecuting, said: “None of the children wanted to take the tablets but were forced to do so.<\/p>\n
“The defendants expected the tablets to kill the children overnight.”<\/p>\n
When the tablets had not had the effect Barrass wanted, she began to search online for other ways of killing her children, including suffocating, strangulation and drowning.<\/p>\n
The court was told Barrass then strangled Tristan with her dressing gown cord.<\/p>\n
Machin strangled Blake with his hands afterwards.<\/p>\n
They “then placed bin bags over their heads to ensure their certain death”, Ms Melly said.<\/p>\n
After killing Tristan and Blake, the defendants ran a bath and repeatedly tried to drown one of the younger children.<\/p>\n
All the surviving children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, are under the age of 13.<\/p>\n
The court heard Barrass had approached the local authority to ask for help with her children.<\/p>\n
Ms Melly said the mother sent a message to a friend in which she said: “I’ve thought of every possible solution to this mess.<\/p>\n
“I love my kids too much to kill them, I can’t put them into care for the same reason.”<\/p>\n
Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"