A woman has been convicted of the manslaughter of her four young sons, who died in a fire at their home in Sutton, south-west London, after she left them alone to go shopping. Deveca Rose, 30, went to Sainsbury’s on the evening of 16 December 2021, leaving her two sets of twins – three-year-olds Leyton and Logan, and four-year-olds Kyson and Bryson – locked inside the terraced house.
The blaze was sparked by a cigarette or tea light in the living room. The boys ran upstairs calling for help, but a neighbour was unable to break down the front door. Firefighters in breathing apparatus later found the children’s bodies under beds. They were taken to hospital but died from inhalation of fire fumes.
The Old Bailey jury deliberated for three hours and 22 minutes before finding Rose guilty of four counts of manslaughter by a majority of 11 to one. She was found not guilty of child cruelty. The court heard that the family had been living in squalor, with rubbish thickly spread throughout the house and buckets used as toilets. Rose had split from her partner and suffered from mental health problems.
Prosecutor Kate Lumsdon KC said Rose claimed she had left the children with a friend named Jade, but police concluded she either did not exist or was not there. Rose admitted in police interviews that she had left the boys alone on two earlier occasions. The children’s father, Dalton Hoath, said he was ‘devastated’ and his world ‘had been turned upside down’.
The judge, Mark Lucraft KC, described it as a ‘tragic case’ and adjourned sentencing to 15 November, granting Rose continued bail. A social worker had raised concerns about the family three months before the fire, but the case was closed.
