A depressed mother-of-four smothered her three disabled children with a nappy on her eldest child's birthday, the Old Bailey heard today.
Tania
Clarence, 43, suffocated three year-old twin sons Ben and Max and four
year-old daughter Olivia before arranging their bodies in funeral poses
surrounded by their favourite toys.
All three suffered from a degenerative condition sometimes described as ‘floppy baby syndrome’.
Mrs
Clarence, the wife of investment banker Gary Clarence, 43, who was in
court for her sentencing today, killed them after tricking their nanny
into leaving her alone with them.
Mr
Clarence was on holiday in their native South Africa with their eldest
child, eight year-old girl Taya, and the three children were killed on
her birthday.
The
Old Bailey heard today that the nanny, Jadna Coelho, known as Jade,
looked after the children at her own home during Easter and texted their
mother to say they were 'happy and healthy'.
But
on April 21 Mrs Clarence sent a series text messages asking her to
bring them back to the family home in Thetford Road, New Malden.
Mrs Clarence told the nanny that she was not needed the following day because her mother Shona was coming.
Prosecutor Zoe Johnson QC said: 'Her mother was not coming. In fact her mother had been staying there but left earlier that day.
'Jade
delivered the boys home and they were put on Tania Clarence's bed to
watch television. Jade left at 9.30pm and all seemed fine. She never saw
the children alive again.'
The
next day Jade was at church with friends when she received a series of
messages from Tania Clarence's mother asking her to check everything was
all right at the house.
Miss
Johnson added: 'Jade was anxious because the defendant had misled her
that Shona was going to be helping her with the twins.'
Proud father: Mr Clarence with his three-year-old twin sons, Ben and Max, who were smothered along with their sister Olivia
Crime scene: The
Old Bailey heard Mrs Clarence lied to a nanny so she could be alone with
the children and then killed them, before putting them in funeral poses
When she arrived at 9pm with her friend Daniel Magagnin and Pastor Margaret the house was in darkness.
As
they climbed the stairs Mrs Clarence cried out and told them to go
before adding: 'It's too late, it's too late... there's nothing you can
do to help them.'
She had tried to take her own life by taking pills and slashing cutting her wrist.
Mr Magagnin then went to the twin's bedroom and found their dead bodies.
The
prosecutor said: 'It was such a grotesque sight that Mr Magagnin
couldn't bring himself to look for Olivia although he was instructed to
do so by the emergency operator.'
Mrs Clarence then told Jade: 'You can't do anything, you have so much, you can't do anything. I appreciate everything you do.'
She
also handed the nanny a letter which read: 'I am so sorry I had to do
this but I could not carry on. I also could not leave the children with
Gary. It would have been too much for him.
'You
have been the most amazing person in our lives over the last few years.
Without you I most likely would have done this a lot sooner. Please
don't think that there was anything more you could have done to avoid
this.
'Please
believe me when I say that you did far too much as is. There was
nothing more you could have done. You were/are perfect. I am so sorry I
had to end things this way.
'Please look after Taya for me. Taya and Gary still need you (very much).'
Remorse: Tania Clarence, pictured at a
previous hearing, told police she was 'sorry' she killed the children
and had also tried to kill herself
Bereft: Mr Clarence arrives with lawyers at the court, and he has attended every court hearing his wife has appeared at
All three children suffered spinal muscular dystrophy type two and faced a shortened life expectancy.
Olivia
was diagnosed with SMA in August 2010 and the twins, who were born
prematurely during a family hospital to Portugal, were diagnosed in
November 2010.
Miss
Johnson said: 'Mr and Mrs Clarence would have agreed to abort the
pregnancy if they had known in advance that Ben and Max were going to
suffer from SMA.'
The
prosecutor said that Clarence took the opportunity of her husband and
eldest daughter's absence to end the lives of the disabled children.
She
later told a psychiatrist she killed them between midnight and 5am on
April 22 and smothered the boys with a nappy 'so they couldn't smell
her', added Miss Johnson.
The twin boys were found lying on their beds and toys and cars placed by their heads, the court heard.
Olivia was found lying on her bed with the bed covers tucked up to her chin under her arms.
Miss Johnson said: 'She had been positioned into a serene pose.'
When police arrived Mrs Clarence kept repeating 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry' and when asked why: 'I killed them.'
She
told paramedics she drank a bottle of wine and tablets at around 5am
that morning and then cut her wrist and overdosed on painkillers.
On
top of a pile of linen was a note reading: 'Gary, I could not live with
what I have done, I took tablets but they didn't work, please do not
save me, Love you.'
Another
note left on the bottom banister of the staircase, written in
Afrikaans, read: 'Gary. Please don't let Taya come to our room. Love You
T x'.
Police also found a list of instructions for her husband which she said she had written on 20 April.
It
was headed 'Things to do and remember' and included Taya's birthday
party and cake, a building certificate for Thetford Road, decorating and
carpentry at the house and who to inform about the deaths.
A
letter to her husband dated 20 April 2014 explained how she had made up
her mind 'to say goodbye' and mentioned the interference in their lives
by Great Ormond St Hospital and medical staff.
Mrs
Clarence wrote: 'I cannot face going down this path watching Liv and
the boys continue to get weaker. Most importantly the interference in
our lives (you know: GOSH, NHS, Kingston/Moor Lane). I am tired of it
all. No matter what we overcome, no matter what we do, it will never be
enough.'
Investigation: Forensics work in one of the bedrooms where the children were killed by their mother
Another
letter written after killing her twin sons and before killing Olivia
read: 'Gary I need to tell you how difficult it is for me to take Liv's
life. I am so ghastly and I feel every ounce of it for doing this.
'The
boys were bad enough. I am struggling with Liv. I waited until the boys
were asleep. The same with Liv. If I could take my own life and leave
her to wait for you I would.
'But
the wait will be as traumatic. This is so bad and I am so, so sorry. My
only solace is that pain and future suffering I am saving her from. I
am so sorry.
'This
life is better without me. I am nothing. The only thing giving me the
motivation to continue is the belief that the boys are already playing
up in heaven like they could never play here. I can see them all running
around...'
The
prosecutor told the court: 'Nowhere in these documents does the
defendant every contemplate life from her disabled children's
perspective, only her own perception of their lives. The defendant only
had regard for the load she bore. If she couldn't have a normal family
life then she didn't want any life at all.'
As she walked to the ambulance outside, Clarence she covered her head with a grey cardigan to prevent anybody looking at her.
When police explained the interview procedure she replied: 'Why do I have to do this, I'm guilty.'
She
told doctors she felt 'sad about the situation with her kids' and
didn't want to ask for help because 'talking doesn't take away the
difficulties.'
Mrs
Clarence also said she had never taken anti-depressants because that
'still would have left me with three very ill kids and no life.'
Pictured: Tania Clarence inside a
prison van at a previous hearing and she has been held at a secure
mental unit which cannot be named
The prosecutor said this showed she intended to kill her disabled children and herself.
The
prosecutor said Ben, Max and Olivia should be regarded 'as children who
liked to do all the things that children want to do.'
Miss Johnson added: 'It is important not to regard them as patients, but as intelligent children in their own right.
'Ben
and Max were described as chatty, full of smiles with a real sense of
fun. They were eager for new experiences and they were confident.
'Olivia
was unwaveringly cheerful and positive, she never felt sorry for
herself and was very matter of fact about her disability. She loved
dinosaurs and dressing up as a princess.'
The children were expected to live into early adulthood despite their condition, the court heard.
Tania
Clarence was originally charged with murdering her children but last
month the Crown Prosecution Service accepted her pleas to the lesser
charge of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
Psychiatrists
agreed she was suffering from a major depressive episode which impaired
her ability to form a rational judgement at the time of the killings.
Clarence
appeared in the dock for the sentencing hearing today but left after 20
minutes after becoming distressed in the dock when the note to the
nanny was read out in court.
Clarence, of Thetford Road, New Malden, is being held at a mental health unit.
The hearing is expected to last all day and the judge has indicated he may have to adjourn sentence until next week.
The hearing continues.
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