A woman has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for the manslaughter of her four young sons, who tragically lost their lives in a house fire while she was out shopping. Deveca Rose, 30, left her two sets of twins alone in their terraced house in Sutton, southwest London, on December 16, 2021. Kyson and Bryson, aged four, and Leyton and Logan, aged three—were unable to escape the blaze. They died trapped under a bed in the locked house. Following a trial at the Old Bailey last autumn, Rose was convicted of four counts of manslaughter. She was, however, acquitted of a charge of child cruelty. The court heard disturbing details about the conditions in the family home, with evidence of rubbish strewn across the floor and even human excrement present. A fire investigation revealed that the blaze was likely caused by either a discarded cigarette or an upturned tealight, with the spread of the fire becoming more ferocious by the clutter.

In sentencing, Judge Mark Lucraft KC emphasized that none of the items Rose went to buy that day were "essential or vital," and condemned her actions leading to the tragic deaths of her four children. "This is a deeply tragic case, with the lives of four young children lost in just moments due to an intense fire," Judge Lucraft said. "You will have to live with the knowledge that you are responsible for the deaths of your four children." Rose, who was seen in the dock with an anorak hood over her head and headphones, was said to be wearing the headphones for medical reasons. During the hearing, family members of the children spoke of the deep emotional impact of the loss. In a statement read on his behalf, their father, Dalton Hoath, called the day they died the "worst day of his life." The statement continued, "Their lives had only just begun. It was every parent's nightmare – I am devastated."

The children's great-grandmother, Sally Johnson, tearfully shared that the boys had been "her life" and that she now felt "empty." She found some comfort in the thought that "they are now all together forever and need never be alone again." She concluded with their favorite question: "Why? Just why?" The boys' step-grandmother, Kerrie Hoath, described the children as "beautiful, loving" and said they had been "cruelly taken away from us" by their mother. "The impact they have made on us in their short lives cannot be measured," she said. "While there will be better days, the hole left by their deaths cannot be filled."

During her trial, Rose suggested that someone named "Jade" had been with the children when she went out, but Judge Lucraft stated that the reality was that she left the four boys, all under the age of four, alone. In her defense, Laurie-Anne Power KC argued that Rose had sought help for her struggles, particularly with her complex psychiatric issues, but had not received the support she needed. "She loved and cherished her children," Power said, noting that Rose was caring for them alone while facing mental health difficulties. "She should not be punished any further for the lies she has told. She perhaps suffered the greatest loss of all."

While acknowledging Rose's mental health struggles, the judge maintained that her responsibility for the deaths could not be undermined. He highlighted missed opportunities to remove the children from the chaotic home environment and noted that Rose had expressed she couldn’t cope during the pandemic. London Fire Brigade’s deputy commissioner for fire safety, Charlie Pugsley, paid tribute to the firefighters who showed "incredible acts of heroism" in attempting to save the children. "This fire will be remembered as an incredibly difficult incident, with a tremendous ongoing impact for everyone involved," he said.