Woman jailed for the manslaughter of her four small sons after fatal fire in Sutton

A mother has been given a ten year sentence for manslaughter after her four small sons were left alone at home and killed in a house fire in Sutton.

The boys – two sets of twins, Bryson and Kyson Hoath, aged four, and Leyton and Logan Hoath, aged three – had been left alone at their home in Collingwood Road one evening in December just over three years ago when a fire broke out that would end their lives.

Their mother, Deveca Rose, 30 (03.10.94), of Collingwood Road, Sutton, appeared at the Old Bailey on Friday, 24 January where she was sentenced to ten years in prison.

The boys’ paternal grandmother, Kerrie, said:

"This sentence marks the end of a three year ordeal.

"Bryson, Kyson, Leyton and Logan were cruelly taken from us in a senseless act of negligence by their mother.

"The disregard she showed towards them has been echoed throughout this trial, and our family have had to endure three years of lies, delays and false narratives, which has been a nightmare.

"The toll it has taken on our family cannot be overstated.

"The boys were beautiful, loving children who did not deserve this and the impact they made on us in their short lives cannot be measured.

"We miss them every day and will always hold them in our heart.

"We wish to thank the courts, the jury and the police for the work they have done to ensure the boys' story has been heard and that justice is done."

Detective Chief Inspector Samantha Townsend of the Met’s Specialist Crime Command said:

“This has been a deeply upsetting investigation for everyone involved.

"Deveca Rose was a mother who placed her own self-interest above the safety of her children.

“Had she not left the children to go shopping, she may have been able to put out the fire, or at the very least, got the children to safety.

“Instead of taking responsibility for her actions, she invented a story that was built around a babysitter whose very existence could not be confirmed.

“The sadness at the needless loss of four young lives is beyond our comprehension.

“I cannot begin to imagine the devastation felt by the children’s wider family and loved ones and our thoughts are with them all today.”

Ms Rose had previously been convicted of manslaughter at the same court on Thursday, 3 October and was bailed for sentencing. She was found not guilty of child neglect.

The court heard that shortly after 19:00hrs on the night of Thursday, 16 December 2021, a passer-by on Collingwood Road realised the house was on fire.

They alerted a neighbour who kicked in the front door in an attempt to reach the children, but the fire, having taken hold of the property, prevented their entry.

Officers attended the scene, along with colleagues from the London Fire Brigade and the London Ambulance Service.

Firefighters managed to bring the fire under control and recovered the four unconscious boys from an upstairs bedroom, whilst medics attempted to save them.

Despite their efforts - treating the children at the scene - they sadly died in hospital.

Their mother, Ms Rose, had left the boys alone to go shopping and returned whilst the house was on fire.

She claimed the children had been left in the care of a woman called ‘Jade’, which prompted firefighters to go back into the house to search for Jade.

No other people were found inside.

Ms Rose was arrested on suspicion of child neglect that same night, and following interview, was released under investigation.

Post-mortem examinations found the boys had died from inhalation of fire fumes, whist detectives undertook a meticulous investigation in order to identify the alleged babysitter, ‘Jade’.

Detectives considered that the passer-by who raised the alarm may have been ‘Jade’, but the description of the woman who had alerted neighbours to the fire differed to the description of ‘Jade’ given by Deveca Rose.

After Ms Rose described the circumstances of her meeting ‘Jade’ a few days before the fire, officers scoured hours of CCTV and could find no trace of them having met, to which Ms Rose responded with claims they had met on a minor road with no CCTV.

In addition, examination of the call data on Ms Rose’s mobile phone showed no contact details for a ‘Jade’ and, when she had attempted to call ‘Jade’ from the scene of the fire, data showed that Ms Rose’s calls did not connect as the number was not viable, and the number was instead notably similar to her own phone number.

CCTV enquiries in the area showed Ms Rose had also gone out alone the day before the fire.

Investigators believed the fire was started in the living room on the ground floor either by a candle, tealight or a burning cigarette. Conditions inside the house were messy and unsanitary which helped the fire spread quickly.

The children, who had been locked inside and were unable to escape the house, had fled to an upstairs bedroom where they would be overcome by smoke.