A mother whose two young sons were murdered by their father says she can now stop worrying about them being forgotten, thanks to a touching permanent memorial.
Twelve years ago, Jack, 12, and nine-year-old Paul Sykes died after Darren Sykes set more than 14 fires around the family home and barricaded them in the loft in October 2014. The 44-year-old father also died in the fire, after luring his sons to the attic with the promise of a new £600 train set and chocolate bars.
A Lasting Tribute Unveiled
On Friday, their mother, domestic abuse campaigner Claire Throssell, fulfilled her wish to create a lasting tribute to her sons as she faced the grim milestone marking 12 years since their murder. The white stone sculpture, shaped as a pair of hands holding a heart, sits outside the Farr Centre in Worksop, the home of Nottinghamshire Women’s Aid, which raised the funds for the memorial.
“I have always worried that when I am no longer here, Jack and Paul’s names will be forgotten, but now there is a permanent memorial and they will be remembered forever,” she said. “This month marks the twelfth anniversary of when both my precious boys fell asleep for the last time, so the timing feels particularly poignant.”
Memorial Details and Ceremony
Claire said: “The inspiration for the design of the memorial comes from the idea of loving parents holding children’s hearts in their hands. Behind the hands are angel wings, who we hope are now looking after our precious children.” The memorial to her sons reads: “Jack and Paul. There is a legacy in your names, that’s full of laughter, light and love…countless more will be saved in your names.” It continues: “Hope shines brightly and always will give light to those facing their darkest days.”
Alongside the tribute to Jack and Paul, a plaque in the shape of a butterfly remembers the 66 other children who have died at the hands of abusive parents over the last 30 years. After the unveiling, which saw many in tears, the song ‘Bring Him Home’ from the musical Les Miserables was performed. The piece was played by Jack, a talented musician, just months before he died.
The Victims Minister, Alex Davies-Jones, alongside the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Alex Norris, and the Labour MP for Bassetlaw, Jo White, attended the ceremony to support Claire.
Campaign for Legal Change
Claire, 54, from Silkstone Common, South Yorkshire, has spent more than a decade campaigning to abolish presumption of parental involvement in the family courts. Since 1989, judges have been told by law to initially assume it is best for children to see both parents. Now new legislation repealing the law will be heard at the House of Lords on Tuesday, after it was successfully passed by the House of Commons. Under ‘Jack and Paul’s Law’, which is part of Labour’s Courts and Tribunals Bill, judges will instead act in the child’s best interests.
Claire said: “In 2014, when I lost my boys no one in government was listening, now we are one step away from changing the law. Presumption has no place in the law. Children’s safety should always come first.” She told those gathered at the memorial: “Today is about Jack and Paul but it's also about 66 other children. Sixty-six other children's lives. And for 30 years children have been murdered due to unsafe contact. But unlike Jack and Paul they are a child A or a child B, they were put in a serious case reviews they are now in files in Whitehall gathering dust. Government after Government successfully just brushed what happened under the carpet...”
Poignantly, the bill goes before the Lords on the 12th anniversary since Claire’s eldest son, Jack, passed away, after fighting for his life for five days. Claire said: “Jack has now been sleeping for as long as he was alive. I really struggle to understand and cope with this. It breaks my heart as a mum. He died thinking he had saved his brother, Paul’s life, after he tried to pull him out of the attic. The last words he said, when firefighters pulled him from the blaze, was ‘My dad did this and he did it on purpose’.”
“I promised Jack and Paul as they took their last breaths, as they lay in my arms, I would not stop fighting until children were safe and free from harm. Not only am I now one step closer to fulfilling that promise but there is a lasting memorial to my beautiful boys who were taken far too soon.”
