This is a heartbreaking story of four boys who tragically lost their lives in a house fire after being left alone at home. The fire occurred while their mother, Deveca Rose, 29, had gone on a trip to Sainsbury’s.
A court hearing revealed that the children were surrounded by rubbish and human excrement at the time of the incident.
Rose is currently on trial for the manslaughter of her two sets of twins—Leyton and Logan Hoath, aged three, and Kyson and Bryson Hoath, aged four—as well as for child cruelty.
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According to reports, the fire was possibly ignited by a discarded cigarette or an overturned tea light, which quickly spread in the terraced home in Sutton, South London.
It is believed that the boys ran upstairs and cried for help but were unable to escape the locked house. They were found dead under a bed, the Old Bailey was told.
Prosecutor Kate Lumsdon KC stated: “It is the Crown’s case that Ms. Rose left her children unattended when she went to Sainsbury’s that evening. She either dropped a lit cigarette or left tea lights burning—or both. A fire started on or under the sofa, and due to the amount of rubbish in the house, it spread rapidly. The children were locked inside and could not escape.”
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Though Rose ensured her children were well-dressed, jurors were told that they lived in “very poor conditions” and that she rejected offers of help from family members and social services.
“There was rubbish throughout the house,” Lumsdon continued. “The toilet and bath were filled with waste, making them unusable. Buckets and pots were used as toilets instead.”
While it was suggested that Rose may have suffered from depression or a personality disorder, these claims were not accepted as a defense by the prosecution.
Opening the trial, Lumsdon explained that Rose had been a single mother after separating from the boys’ father, Dalton Hoath. Social services had been involved with the family, but their case was closed three months before the children’s deaths.
Family members raised concerns, particularly the children’s paternal grandmother, who had not visited often due to Rose being “cagey” about allowing people into the home.
In July 2021, a social worker found the house in poor condition, noting a strong unpleasant smell and expressing concerns about Rose’s self-care. However, after Rose failed to engage in follow-up visits, the case was closed in September 2021.
The children had not attended school for three weeks before the fire on December 16, 2021.
On the evening of the fire, Rose left the children alone at their home on Collingwood Road around 6:30 p.m. Neighbors later realized the house was on fire and heard the children inside, but the door was shut.
“A neighbor kicked in the door,” Lumsdon told jurors, “but the fire had spread too quickly for anyone to enter.”
Firefighters arrived and found the four boys unconscious under a bed in an upstairs room. The house was filled with rubbish and human waste, with a mattress and door blocking the stairs.
Despite efforts to save the children, they were pronounced dead at the hospital. The cause of death was later determined to be inhalation of fire fumes.
Rose returned from Sainsbury’s as firefighters were still battling the blaze and was taken in by a neighbor. The boys’ father also arrived at the scene.
Rose initially claimed she had left the children in the care of a woman named Jade, prompting firefighters to search for her. However, further investigations revealed no evidence of Jade’s existence or involvement.
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A fire investigation concluded that the blaze was caused by a discarded cigarette or overturned tea light candle near the sofa. The fire spread rapidly due to the large amounts of rubbish in the house. Cigarette ends, lighters, tea lights, and incense sticks were found throughout the property, which was reportedly 20 cm deep in rubbish.
Rose, from Wallington, South London, has denied the charges against her. The trial continues.
