Tania Clarence, 42, suffocated her three disabled children to ‘end their suffering,’ before trying to kill herself at her house in New Malden, South West London.
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The mother-of-four, who is married to investment banker Gary Clarence, killed her three children while her husband was overseas with their eldest child.
‘This is truly a tragic case’ Jim Sturman
All three deceased children suffered from spinal muscular atrophy - a life-limiting progressive disease which can cause fatal respiratory problems.
On Monday, her manslaughter plea was accepted, as well as the fact that Clarence was suffering a major depressive episode which led to ‘abnormality of mind.’
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Her defence lawyer, Jim Sturman, said a hospital order (where the convicted is be placed in a mental health facility rather than prison) would be a more compassionate sentence.
‘This is truly a tragic case’ he said, as the court also heard how the family only discovered their infant Olivia had the life-limiting illness when Tania was already pregnant with twin boys. When they were born, they discovered they too had the disease.