A woman has been found guilty at the Old Bailey of the manslaughter of her four young sons who died in a fire after being left home alone in south west London.
Deveca Rose, 30, had left her two sets of twins alone while a blaze ripped through her house in Sutton on the evening of December 16, 2021.
The court heard that Rose had left her children alone to go to Sainsbury’s.
Kyson, Bryson, Leyton and Logan were unable to escape the property and died under a bed, the trial heard.
An Old Bailey jury deliberated for three hours and 22 minutes to find her guilty of four counts of manslaughter by a majority of 11 to one but not guilty of child cruelty.
She was granted bail and will be sentenced on November 15.
Jurors were told that the family had been living in squalor, surrounded by rubbish and human excrement, before the tragedy.
Prosecutor Kate Lumsdon KC had told the court that rubbish was “thickly spread throughout the house” and buckets and pots were being used as toilets.
The fire was sparked by a cigarette or tea light in the living room, the court heard.
A neighbour tried to break down the front door before firefighters in breathing apparatus went in and found the children’s bodies under beds.
The four children were rushed to two separate hospitals but attempts to save them failed and they died from inhalation of fire fumes later that night.
Judge Mark Lucraft KC said it was a "tragic case".
The children’s father, Dalton Hoath, said he was “devastated” and his world had been turned “upside down” by the loss of his children.
Mr Hoath, who was not living with them at the time of the fire, described them as “young, boisterous lads” who were “well mannered”, “well behaved” and loved.
He said he had received a call from Rose on the evening of December 16 2021 and she was “hysterical” as she told him there had been a fire and the children were inside the building.
He then rushed to the “smouldering” terraced house on Collingwood Road, Sutton, with the boys’ grandfather where he was told that his sons had been taken to two hospitals.
Mr Hoath said: “After being taken to the hospital it became clear that all four of my children had not made it and that my world had been turned upside down.”
