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Updated 1pm
A WOMAN HAS been arrested in London on suspicion of murder after the discovery of the bodies of three children at a house in London yesterday.
Police said they were called to an address in New Malden, south London, at 9.30pm last night. At the property they found the bodies of the three children.
A 43-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder and remains in custody at a south London police station, police said today. They added they detectives were not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident at this time.
The woman has not been identified but media reports say she is the mother of the children.
There were four children in the family, who were originally from South Africa, three of whom had “life-limiting genetic disorders”, according to a neighbour.
The neighbour, who did not wish to be identified, said four-year-old twin boys and an older girl were ill, but the eldest, aged about seven or eight, was in good health.
She told reporters that the father works in finance and the mother looks after the children adding: “They are a very, very lovely couple”.
A police spokesperson told TheJournal.ie that the investigation is ongoing and they are not presently releasing further details about the children or the cause of their deaths.
- With additional reporting from AFP.
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The children all had genetic life limited conditions . Maybe she wanted to end their suffering. No one knows what it is like to watch your children dying.
Thanks for that Pat.
Nobody knows what goes on behind the scenes. To have a child with a disability and watch them suffer every day and worry about what the future holds, it’s easy to imagine that this world is a cruel, cold and bleak place. No one can judge.
Where did I say it’s ok to kill anyone?
I was replying to pats comment but your “thanks for that pat” comment shows you agree so yes it’s directed At you too
I thanked Pat for the extra information which makes the picture a bit clearer. Things are never black and white. I don’t think Pat condones the killing of children anymore than I do. Maybe we are different and prefer to wait for the full story before we jump all over something. You should try it sometime.
You’re jumping the conclusion that the mother was protecting her children, I read articles that describe the children as very happy, I’ve even seen pictures and they look so happy, so it’s also possible she killed them because she couldn’t cope with minding them not that she was acting in their interests but maybe her own
Not acting in their interests I mean
No, you’re the one jumping to conclusions.
And making assumptions based on pictures and interviews. Dangerous. Thank God you’re not a judge.
Assumptions aren’t assumption when they are based on the available evidence, Denise. Not dangerous. Thank god you’re not an English teacher
I certainly do not condone anyone killing their children regardless of their disabilities. All I was saying is no one knows what you would do if you are in similar circumstances. Looking after children is very hard sometimes and I can imagine the pain of parents who watch their children dying before their eyes. Do not judge too quickly
Poor woman.
Unless you can walk in the shoes of a mum with a sick child, let alone three sick children, you cannot possibly judge her actions.
So the jury MUST be made up of mothers of sick children? Maybe it should be made up of sick children instead, so they can decide whether their lives should be voidable at the instance of another?
Horrible judgemental ignorant posters here having a clue what taking care of a disabled child is like. Sometimes this site makes me want to vomit. You all need to be ashamed of yourselves.
Me too Cecilia. It’s a tabloid, impulsive mob mentality, baying for blood.
I know what it’s like to care for a child with severe, terminal disabilities. The worry, the grief and the fear is like nothing ever experienced. You see them suffering terribly and want to take away their pain but can’t. You would swap places with them in a heartbeat.
That some people here jump to conclusions and say the mother was acting in her own interests is one of the most disgusting and ignorant comments ever to have graced this site.
..and your getting red thumbed here because obviously the pitch fork carrying lynch mob moron on this site expect you to smile angelicly while you care for your terminally ill child while they sit on their fat arises judging you.
There is a special place in hell reserved for people who harm children.
Shame on you. Disgusting judgmental comment
The mother has been arrested, if guilty may she rot in hell.
What the hell? The previous story a poor woman looses a much wanted and loved child then you read this! Horrible that someone could kill 3 children(possibly their own)
Awful just awful!
How quickly and easily you condemn and judge. You take care of three terminally ill children and watch them suffer and she how you like it. Shame on you.
I think the journal should disable comments for stories relating to such subjects. A lot of people dont know the difference between palliative care and murdering someone. And a lot of ignorant, offensive comments get posted.
Women are good; men are bad. Women child killers need help; men child killers need execution. The vast majority of child killers are women.
I said this on a previous story about a woman who murdered her children, it’s a pathetic double standard. Look at Denise Houlihan’s comment above; “no-one can judge”. Yes I can! Where were you when the commentators here were whiling away the hours dreaming up sexualised torture methods for Mick Philpott?
I don’t know where I was tbh. But probably doing something more interesting.
Nothing to do today then eh? Well it’s not too late! Here’s the story, complete with comments http://www.thejournal.ie/philpott-setence-manslaughter-uk-856458-Apr2013/ Does “no-one can judge” apply there too? Should the people commenting feel ashamed?
Your being utterly ridiculous. None of Mick Philpotts kids were terminally I’ll or even disabled. This is a completely different scenario. Your just a shrill shrieking pitchforker with neither compassion or empathy. Hang your head in shame.
A “shrill shrieking pitchforker”? Because I think people should be treated equally? Click the link I’ve provided, and tell me that the commentators there aren’t “shrill shrieking pitchforkers”
As for your comments that killing children is no biggy if they’re sick, how sick do they have to be before it becomes no-one’s business? And who can make that decision? Only the mother? Does the father get a say? The grandparents? Can a doctor put them to sleep? Can I?
Just grow up Eithne. No one knows what that woman had to go through with three children who have life threatening genetic illness. It’s a horrible situation to be in and it’s very easy to stand outside in judgement. And by the way I have sympathy for those fathers also who feel that this is the only way to protect their children. I don’t condone it but I understand the skewed thinking that comes from extreme pressure and desperation.
She will get away with it, they will use the excuse of mental problems as they usually do. Feel bad for the family of these kids, a terrible loss, taken way too early from life.
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