Four boys died in London house fire surrounded by rubbish and excrement, court told

Four young boys died in a fire surrounded by rubbish and human excrement after their mother left them home alone to go on a trip to Sainsbury’s, a court has heard.

Deveca Rose, 29, is on trial for the manslaughter of her two sets of twins, Leyton and Logan Hoath, aged three, and Kyson and Bryson Hoath, aged four, and child cruelty.

The four children died after a discarded cigarette or upturned tea light sparked a blaze at their terraced home in Sutton , south London .

Opening Rose’s Old Bailey trial on Monday, Kate Lumsdon KC told how the defendant was a single mother, having split up with the boys’ father Dalton Hoath.

At about 6.30pm on December 16 2021, she left the children unattended at the house in Collingwood Road and went to Sainsbury’s, jurors were told.

While she was away, neighbours realised the house was on fire and could hear the children were inside and the door was shut, Ms Lumsdon said.

She told jurors: “A neighbour kicked in the door but the fire had taken hold to the extent that it was impossible to enter.

“The fire brigade were called. Many units attended. Using appropriate protective clothing and breathing apparatus firemen put out the fire and entered the house.

“They 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. There was a mattress and a door on the stairs.”

Attempts to save the children were made on the pavement outside, but jurors were told there was nothing that could be done, and they were pronounced dead in hospital.

The cause of death was later given as inhalation of fire fumes.

The defendant arrived back from the supermarket as firefighters were still tackling the blaze and she was taken in by a neighbour.

Jurors were told the boys’ father had also gone to the scene.

Ms Lumsdon said Rose had claimed she left the children with a woman called Jade, which prompted firefighters to go back into the house to search for her.

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 played no part in events of that evening.

Following her arrest, Rose maintained in a prepared statement that she had left the children in the care of a friend called Jade.

Ms Lumsdon said: “Despite following all the leads provided by Ms Rose and conducting their own investigations, the police could find no trace of Jade.”

A fire investigation found the blade 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.

Rose, of Wallington, south London, has denied the charges against her and the trial continues.

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