Mother of four who killed her three disabled children to 'end their suffering' left husband a note saying 'I can’t live with the horror of what I've done'

A mother who suffocated her three disabled children 'to end their suffering' left her husband a note saying 'I can't live with the horror of what I've done' before trying to kill herself, it was revealed today.

Tania Clarence, 42, who has admitted the manslaughter of four-year-old Olivia and three-year-old twins Ben and Max, will not face a murder trial, it was revealed today.

They all suffered from spinal muscular atrophy, also known as 'floppy baby syndrome', which leaves children with little control of their movements and can drastically shorten life expectancy.

The Old Bailey heard she killed the three children in their beds on April 22 in their £2million house in New Malden, south-west London, but then failed to kill herself in the master bedroom.

Her investment banker husband Gary, who was in court today, was in his native South Africa to visit relatives with eldest child Taya Grace, eight, who is not affected by the illness.

No trial: Tania Clarence, has admitted killing her twins three-year-old sons Max and Ben (pictured with father Gary) and their older sister Olivia, four, but will not face a murder trial , a judge said today

A note left by his wife after she killed their children said: 'Gary, I don't want to be saved please. I can't live with the horror of what I have done. I thought the pills would work, they didn't.'

She was discovered bleeding and crying by her distraught nanny and a neighbour, who had gone to the home after becoming concerned for her safety.

The prosecution said they found the home in darkness and found a note written in Afrikaans to her husband Gary.

They put on the torch on a mobile phone and went upstairs, calling out to Clarence as they went.

Prosecutor Zoe Johnson QC said they 'found Mrs Clarence in a bedroom. She was telling them to go away, saying that it was too late, and clearly seemed disturbed and devastated.'

Asked if she had taken anything, the court heard that Clarence replied: 'I took something yesterday, but it didn't work.'

Police were called and the neighbour checked if anyone else was in the house.

He opened the door into the children's bedroom and saw the twin boys dead, but was too shocked to continue his search of the house.

The nanny told police that as she searched the house she was calling out to Mrs Clarence, but the mother of four shouted back: 'Just go, it is too late, just go, just go.'

The police arrived at around 9.30pm and the three children were pronounced dead at the scene at 9.41pm.

Clarence confessed to the triple killing to a female police officer at the scene, saying: 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry.' Asked why she was sorry, the tearful mother said: 'I killed them. I suffocated them.'

At the hospital she was told she was going to be taken to the police station, and cried out 'Why do I have to do this, I'm guilty', the court heard.

 

Two other notes were found in the house. One discovered on top of a pile of clothes in the master bedroom read:A third note was addressed to the nanny, described in court as 'a significant member of the family'. Its contents were not divulged.  

At a hearing at the Old Bailey this morning judge Mr Justice Sweeney accepted their mother's plea so she will no longer face a murder trial in the New Year. 

Her defence QC said today she had been depressed when she killed them and at the time had 'bitterly regretted' she had not managed to kill herself because she had 'no hope for the future'.

The Old Bailey heard she now regrets the deaths of her children.

The three children were found dead at their five-bedroom home in south-west London by the family's devoted nanny on April 22. 

Ms Johnson said: 'It is clear on the evidence Mrs Clarence killed her three children because she wanted to end their suffering and at the time she committed the act she could not see any alternative or any other way out of their joint suffering.'

Clarence, who was not in court, will be sentenced on November 14 when she is likely to face a hospital order.

Her husband Gary, 43, an investment banker, was in South Africa with their eldest child at the time of the tragedy. He was in court for the brief hearing today.