Shiregreen Mother Jailed For Murdering Sons And Plotting To Kill Her Other Children

The defendants then ran a bath and repeatedly tried to drown one of the younger children, the court heard.

The court heard that Barrass strangled Tristan with her dressing gown cord. Machin strangled Blake with his hands.

The court heard that Barrass told police she planned to kill the younger two children and herself after the older four had died.

She described how the children were “terrified” as she tried to make them take the tablets and the child she tried to drown was “hysterical” as she held his head under the water.

Following the murders, and the attempted murder of the younger child, Barrass took the surviving children into her bedroom and eventually called the police.

The court heard that Barrass requested help with her children from the local authority.

Melly said the mother-of-six sent a message to a friend, in which she said: “I’ve thought of every possible solution to this mess. Mass murder, putting them all in care, checking in to the local nut house.

“I love my kids too much to kill them, I can’t put them into care for the same reason.”

Bryan Cox QC, mitigating for Barrass, described her crimes as “evil and nothing but evil” but said she was “profoundly damaged by her childhood”.

He said: “She was, over many years, subject to sustained neglect and emotional, physical and sexual abuse.”

Upon sentencing, Sheffield City Council issued a statement announcing it has opened a serious case review into the matter, the results of which are due in around six months. 

Barrass had protested her innocence when she appeared in court earlier this year, shouting from the dock: “I didn’t kill my boys. Swear to God.”

The court heard that all of the surviving children are under the age of 13.