Mother is jailed for life for murdering her sons, aged two and five

A super-strength cannabis smoking mother who drowned her two young sons and tucked them into bed for their father to find has today been sentenced to life imprisonment and will serve a minimum of 21 years.

Kara Alexander, 47, of Dagenham, east London, was found guilty of murdering Elijah Thomas, two, and Marley Thomas, five, in the bath at their home in December 2022.

At Kingston Crown Court on Friday, Mr Justice Bennathan sentenced Alexander to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 21 years and 252 days.

He also warned that Alexander's reliance on super-strength cannabis, known as skunk, should serve as a warning that it can 'plunge people into a mental health crisis in which they may harm themselves or others'.

The boys' father Selvin Thomas found his sons lying dead on their bunk beds after they were killed by their mother. They had been tucked in but he immediately knew they were dead, describing them as cold and hard to the touch.

Mr Thomas, who had split up with Alexander just three months earlier, began screaming: 'Kara, Kara, Kara. What the f***? You've killed my children.' But she had already fled the house and he called the police.

He was due to have the boys that weekend and was worried because he had not received any messages or calls from Alexander.

When he arrived at their home his ex-partner said they were upstairs sleeping before slamming the door in his face.

But after he demanded entry he went to their bedroom to find they had been murdered.

The cause of death was drowning or suffocation.

Today at Kingston Crown Court, prosecutor Philip Evans read out the victim impact statement of Mr Thomas, who could not be present due to illness.

'The events of December 2022, have obviously had a profound impact on me and my family,' he said in Selvin Thomas' words.

'Kara ensured there would be maximum impact on me by engineering a situation where I would find Marley and Elijah deceased in bed.

'I am coming to terms with the fact I dedicated seven years of my life to a cold-hearted, selfish and extremely stupid demon.

'I believe Kara's intention was to frame me for the murders and somehow present herself as a victim.

'She was able to brutally end the lives of two innocent children, put them in the bed and wait calmly for me.

'She has shown no remorse or provided any kind of explanation or apology, she did not consider the impact this would have.

'Despite the correct verdict being handed down, there still remain many unanswered questions.

'It is a pain that follows me all day, every day and will do for the rest of my life.' 

Alexander had claimed it was 'an accident' when she left the boys in the bath as she smoked cannabis.

But after deliberating for six hours and 54 minutes, the jury at Kingston Crown Court found Alexander guilty of two counts of murder.

Jailing her this morning, Mr Justice Bennathan told Alexander: 'The heavy use of skunk or other hyper strong strains of cannabis can plunge people into a mental health crisis in which they may harm themselves or others.

'If any drug user does not know that, it is about time they did.

'On the evening of December 15, 2022, you had been smoking skunk, you had been doing so for weeks before, probably longer.

'You drowned them both, I cannot reach any conclusion other than by your state at that time you intended to kill them.

'The bath was probably still run from the evening routine and I do not think your dreadful acts were pre-meditated.

'The next morning their father, worried by your unusual signs, came and found them - the stuff of nightmares.

'I find you were in a psychotic state when you killed your two sons. On the proper medical definition, I accept that it was cannabis induced, even if there were other contributing causes.

'That finding of psychosis is consistent with the jury's rejection to your defence of diminished responsibility. You had a previous psychotic episode in 2016.

'I also note that in December 2022, you spoke regularly to two members of your social circle about your heavy cannabis use, they both knew you were looking after small children, yet neither of them warned you of any risks.'

The judge told Alexander her 'shocking abuse of trust that any small child ought to be able to have in their mother or father' was a significant aggravating factor.

'You not only lack any previous convictions but before that terrible evening you had been a caring mother, that stands as a stark contrast of what normally happens when a child is killed.

'You may not have been told that your previous psychotic state could be triggered by cannabis.

'Every day you will remember and grieve the little boys whose lives you snatched away.'

Selvin Thomas had arrived at their home to see his sons but Alexander, who was wearing a hoodie, said they were upstairs sleeping and slammed the door in his face.

Mr Thomas demanded she open the door and when she did he found 'a bunch of toys behind it as if barricading the door', said prosecutor Philip Evans, KC.

He then ran to his sons' bedroom and found their bodies lying side-by-side on their lower bunk bed. 

By the time the horrified father ran downstairs Alexander had fled.

She was arrested about an hour later and later claimed she had left the boys in the bath alone while she smoked cannabis.

Alexander accepted at trial that she had placed them in the bath before they 'accidentally' drowned.

Mr Evans said: 'They were bunched up together and it looked like they were asleep.

'They had the duvet up to their shoulders, only their faces were visible. He touched Marley's face, on his right cheek, and he was freezing cold and hard. 

'He knew immediately that they were dead and thought they had been dead for some time.

'Such exposure could have occurred from being in an enclosed space where cannabis was being smoked in the hours leading up to death.' 

Alexander had been in contact with 'at least two suppliers of cannabis and regularly bought cannabis from those suppliers during this period.'

She admitted two charges of gross negligence manslaughter by breaching the duty of care she owed her sons but the prosecution did not accept her pleas.

She denied but was convicted of two counts of murder by a jury at Kingston Crown Court.

Marley and Elijah, also known as Teddy, had previously lived with Alexander and Mr Thomas in Hackney before they split up and she moved to Dagenham with the boys.

Mr Thomas found his sons' bodies on their shared bunk bed on 16 December 2022.

He ran downstairs screaming 'Kara, Kara, Kara. What the f***? You've killed my children.'

Alexander was nowhere to be seen and Mr Thomas dialled 999.

During the call played to the jury he said: 'She killed my children'; 'I've come here to check on them, she slammed the door in my face, I said "You need to open the door or I'll call the police", so she let me in.

'I said "Where are the children?" she said "They're in bed", so I've gone to check on my children.

'She's run across, now she's running to a neighbour's house, jumped the fence, my children are dead, they're dead.

'They're both in the bottom bunk freezing cold. She's lost her mind and I don't know what she's done, she's killed both my little boys.'

Mr Thomas then told a man outside: 'She's knows I'm going to kill her. For no reason, for no reason, for no reason bruv, they're two years old and five years old bro.'

Mr Evans told the court: 'Their deaths had instead been caused, in each case, by an interference with the normal mechanics of their breathing through smothering or immersion in water.

'The ambulance service and police attended, there was nothing that could be done for the boys they were very clearly dead and had been for some hours.'

There was no sign that anyone else other than Alexander had entered or been in the house, the court heard.

'The defendant had run away through gardens into a neighbouring street,' added Mr Evans.

'She was arrested about an hour or so later and was taken to the police station where her detention was authorised.

'The prosecution understands at this stage that Kara Alexander denies killing her two children in the sense that she did nothing to interfere with the normal mechanics of their breathing, whether through smothering or immersion in water.

'She denies intending to kill them or intending them serious harm, or indeed any harm.

'The prosecution case is that, if a person smothers or immerses a young child in water, the very least intention that person must have is to cause really serious harm to that child.

'This is all the more so where there are two children killed.'

Alexander's barrister Jeremy Dein KC had earlier argued the defence of diminished responsibility should be open to her due to an acute and transient psychotic disorder.