Social workers at Sutton Council had raised concerns about Deveca Rose and the state of her home on Collingwood Road three years before four boys, aged under five, died in a blaze at their home
Deveca Rose, the mother of four small boys who died in a fire at their home in West Sutton in December 2021, has been convicted of the manslaughter of her sons.
Neglect: Deveca Rose – Sutton social services were aware of the conditions in her house
Bryson and Kyson Hoath, twins aged four, and Leyton and Logan Hoath, twins aged three, had been left alone at their home in Collingwood Road on the evening of Thursday, December 16, 2021, when the fire broke out that would end their lives.
Deveca Rose, now 29, this week appeared for trial at the Old Bailey charged with four counts of manslaughter and one count of child neglect. Convicted of manslaughter, she was released on bail to appear for sentencing on November 15. She was found not guilty of child neglect.
In a statement, the boys’ family said: “Bryson, Kyson, Leyton and Logan Hoath were cruelly taken from us in a senseless act of negligence. The impact this has had on us, their father Dalton, and our family cannot be overstated.
“The last three years have been a nightmare. Over this time we have had to listen to a number of false narratives and speculation around what happened that night, which have included lights on a Christmas tree and that the boys were left with a babysitter. Today these have been shown to be false.
“Bryson, Kyson, Leyton and Logan were left alone by their mother Deveca Rose, and she has been found to be responsible for their deaths.
“Our family will now take time to heal and let the boys rest. We wish to thank the courts, the members of the jury and the police investigation team for the work they have done to ensure that the boys’ story has been heard and that justice is done.”
The court heard that shortly after 7pm on that fatal night, a passer-by on Collingwood Road realised the house was on fire and alerted a neighbour who kicked in the front door in an attempt to reach the children. But the fire had already taken hold and they were unable to enter.
London Fire Brigade managed to bring the fire under control and recovered the four boys, who were lying limp and unconscious under a bed in an upstairs bedroom.
Medics at the scene attempted to save them, treating them on the pavement outside the house before they were taken to hospital.
Rose screamed, “Not my boys, not my boys”, as doctors tried and failed to keep them alive. All four died within an hour of each other.
At the time of the fire, the children had been left home alone. Rose had gone shopping at Sainsbury’s. She had left her children for little more than half an hour.
Barely 60 minutes after her fourth son was pronounced dead, Rose was arrested on suspicion of child neglect. “My kids just died and I’m being fucking arrested,” she told officers as she was handcuffed in the hospital.
When firefighters arrived to tackle the blaze, they found the home more than 6in deep in rubbish and strewn with buckets of human excrement. A mattress and a door lay on the stairway, which slowed down efforts to rescue the boys.
The fire was started by either a lit tea light or discarded cigarette. Fire alarms were not fitted in the property. The landlord told police this was because he believed he was under no obligation to have them installed.
Before the fire, Rose had often been wary about letting people into her home, but social services for Sutton Council were aware of the living conditions.
One social worker made two visits to Rose in July 2021. After the second visit, she emailed her managers with concerns about the cluttered home with a “strong, unpleasant smell”. She also said she was worried about Rose’s mental health.
Despite this, no further visits were made and her case was closed in September 2021, three months before the fire.
A health visitor from Sutton Council visited the family on five occasions between November 2018 and January 2020. She expressed similar concerns about the state of the home and in notes from her final visit said Rose was “still having some difficulties”.
When she was questioned at the time of the fire, Rose claimed that the children had been left in the care of a woman called “Jade”, which prompted LFB to go back into the address and conduct a search. No one else was found inside the house.
What the Metropolitan Police describe as “a meticulous investigation” was undertaken to identify and locate the babysitter, without success.
Detectives considered that the passer-by who raised the alarm may have been “Jade”. However, the description of the woman who had alerted neighbours on Collingwood Road to the fire and the description of Jade given by Rose did not match.
After Rose described her meeting Jade a few days before the fire, hours of CCTV was viewed by officers who could find no trace of them having met. When this was put to her, Rose claimed that she had met her on a minor road with no CCTV.
Examination of the call data on Rose’s mobile phone showed no contact details for a “Jade” and, when Rose had attempted to call Jade from the scene of the fire, data showed that Rose’s calls did not connect as the number was not viable. The number Rose dialled in the presence of officers was notably similar to her own phone number.
CCTV enquiries in the area showed that Rose had also gone out alone the day before the fire, December 15, 2021.
Rose was arrested on suspicion of child neglect and was released under investigation. Post-mortem examinations found the cause of the boys’ deaths to have been smoke inhalation.
She was charged in November 2023 with four counts of manslaughter, contrary to common law, and child abandonment contrary to the Children and Young Persons Act 1933.
According to the Met: “Investigators believed that the fire was started in the living room on the ground floor either by a candle or tealight or a burning cigarette. The fire was able to spread quickly due to the floor being strewn with discarded items and rubbish.
Tragedy: the four boys, Bryson, Kyson, Leyton and Logan, all aged under five, who died in December 2021
“The children, who had been locked inside the address, were unable to escape the house and had fled to an upstairs bedroom where they would be overcome by smoke.”
Detective Chief Inspector Samantha Townsend, of the Met’s Specialist Crime Command, said: “This has been a difficult investigation for everyone involved. Deveca Rose was the very person who should have protected and nurtured the four boys, but instead, put her own self-interest above their safety.
“Had she been in the house when the fire started she may have been able to put it out, or at the very least get the children to safety.
“In the face of her neglect, instead of taking responsibility for her actions, she invented a story that involved a baby sitter whose very existence could not be confirmed.
“The sadness at the needless loss of four young lives is beyond our comprehension.
“I cannot begin to imagine the devastation felt by the children’s family and loved ones and our thoughts are very much with them all today.”
The case raises significant issues about the missed opportunities to prevent the tragedy, and the state of children’s services in Sutton, and elsewhere across the country.
Social services funding for early intervention schemes has almost halved, from £4billion in 2010 to £2.2billion in 2022-2023. These services, which include family hubs and Sure Start centres, often identify struggling or at-risk families, such as Rose, before problems escalate.
Jonathan Williams, the director of children’s services at Sutton, told The Guardian newspaper: “Our heartfelt thoughts go out to the family who continue to grieve for their beloved boys.
“After the house fire, a multi-agency review was conducted by the local safeguarding partnership in January 2022 … The review found that the children were happy, healthy, well-presented, well-nourished and had a positive relationship with their mother.
“The multi-agency review that took place did not query the professional practice and the government’s national panel agreed that a local child safeguarding practice review was not required.”
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