Two sets of twin boys – who died in a house fire – were left home alone surrounded by rubbish and human waste after their mother went shopping, a court has heard.
Deveca Rose, 29, is on trial at the Old Bailey for the manslaughter of twins, Leyton and Logan Hoath, aged three, and Kyson and Bryson Hoath, aged four.
Ms Rose, who is also accused of child cruelty, denies all the charges against her.
Jurors were told the four children died after a discarded cigarette or upturned tea light sparked a blaze at the family house in Collingwood Road, Sutton, in south London.
During the prosecution’s opening statement, Kate Lumsdon KC alleged that Ms Rose left the children alone to visit a supermarket on the evening of 16 December 2021.
“She either dropped a lit cigarette before she left or left tea lights burning, or both. A fire started on or under the sofa, and due to the amount of rubbish in the house it took hold quickly.
‘The children ran upstairs and shouted to the neighbours’
“The children were, we suggest, locked in the house and could not escape. They ran upstairs to get away from the fire and shouted to the neighbours. But it was too late for anything to be done.”
The prosecutor said: “There was rubbish thickly spread throughout the house. The toilet and the bath were full of rubbish and could not be used. Buckets and pots were used as toilets instead.”
Deveca Rose in January 2024 arriving at the Old Bailey for at a pre-trial hearing. Pic: PA
Children lived in ‘very poor conditions’
The evidence suggested Ms Rose was likely depressed and may have suffered from a personality disorder, but Ms Lumsdon said that was not a defence.
The prosecution added that the defendant was a single mother, having split up with the boys’ father, Dalton Hoath. Although the defendant ensured the children were well turned out, in reality they lived in “very poor conditions” and Ms Rose rejected offers of help.
The court was told how the children were known to social services, and the children’s paternal family had raised concerns, but their case was closed three months before their deaths.
Forensic investigators at the scene in Collingwood Road in Sutton. File pic: PA
Boys absent from school
After inappropriate behaviour was raised at school, a social worker visited in July 2021 and noticed rubbish in the house, a “very strong, unpleasant smell” and was worried that Ms Rose had not taken care of herself.
The prosecution said Ms Rose did not engage in further planned home visits and the case was closed in September 2021, although children had not attended school for three weeks before the fire.
The Old Bailey heard that at about 6.30pm on 16 December 2021, Ms Rose went to Sainsbury’s and then the fire broke out.
Flowers were laid near the scene. File pic: PA
Rubbish and human excrement
The prosecution said: “A neighbour kicked in the door but the fire had taken hold to the extent that it was impossible to enter.
“The fire brigade… 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.”
The children were later pronounced dead in hospital. The cause of death was given as inhalation of fire fumes.
No trace of childminder ‘Jade’
The defendant arrived back from the supermarket as firefighters were still tackling the blaze and she was taken in by a neighbour.
Following her arrest, Ms Rose gave a prepared statement stating she had left the children in the care of a friend called Jade.
But the prosecutor told jurors there was no sign of the friend, and extensive inquiries had led to the “firm conclusion” that Jade either did not exist or was not there that evening.
A fire investigation found the blaze was caused by a discarded cigarette or upturned tea light candle near the sofa in the downstairs front room and spread by igniting rubbish on the floor.
Jurors were told that there were numerous cigarette ends, lighters, tea lights and incense sticks – and the property was 20cm deep in rubbish.
Ms Rose from Wallington, south London, denies all the charges and the trial continues.
In December 2021, in the days following the fire, the children’s father Dalton Hoath paid tribute to his sons describing them as “bright, caring, loveable boys”.