A mother charged with manslaughter and child abandonment after her four young sons died in a fire at her home will go on trial in the autumn.
Deveca Rose, 29, of Sutton, south London, appeared at the Old Bailey on Monday but was not asked to enter a plea and spoke only to confirm her name.
The charges relate to a blaze at a house on Collingwood Road, Sutton, last year in which her two sets of twins died.
Leyton and Logan Hoath, aged three, and Kyson and Bryson Hoath, aged four, died in the fire at around 7pm on 16 December 2021.
Leyton and Logan Hoath, aged three, and Kyson and Bryson Hoath, aged four— ( PA)
Rose was granted conditional bail in December 2023 after she was charged with four counts of manslaughter and a charge of child abandonment contrary to the Children and Young Persons Act 1933.
The judge told previously told Ms Rose: “You are charged with very serious offences and if you were found guilty of any or all of these offences … it is likely you would go to prison for a significant period of time.”
People lay flowers near the scene in Sutton, south London (Yui Mok/PA)— (PA Wire)
Firefighters in breathing apparatus entered the mid-terrace house during the “intense blaze” in December 2021, removed the brothers and gave them CPR before they were taken to two south London hospitals, where they were pronounced dead.
In a statement after the fire, Dalton Hoath, the father of the boys, said he and his family were “utterly devastated” at their loss.
Forensic investigators at the scene in Collingwood Road, Sutton, south London— (PA Wire)
“They were bright, caring, loveable boys, but most of all sons, brothers, grandsons, great-grandsons, nephews and cousins.
“We would like to thank all the emergency services who did so much to try and save our boys, and also the local community who have come together at this difficult time.”
In a post on Facebook in 2021, their paternal grandfather, Jason Hoath, wrote: “I am devastated to say that the horrendous house fire that took place in Sutton last night leading to four children loosing (sic) their life’s (sic) were my amazing smart and beautiful grandsons.
“(They were) taken too soon they will always be in our hearts and thoughts. Boys I love you forever. Grandad xxx”.
The judge adjourned the plea hearing to 8 March and set a provisional trial of up to four weeks from 2 September.
The trial will be heard at the Old Bailey before Judge Lucraft, who is the Recorder of London.
