WHEN a devastating fire swept through the home of Deveca Rose with her two sets of twin boys inside, neighbours desperately tried to save the children as they screamed for help.
The blaze, at the squalid house in Sutton, South London, tragically took their young lives just days before Christmas in 2021, after their mum had left them alone to shop at Sainsbury’s.
PAKyson and Bryson Hoath, aged four (left), and Leyton and Logan Hoath, aged three (right), who died in a fire after being left home alone by their mum[/caption]
PAA mugshot of Deveca Rose, 30, who left her boys home alone[/caption]
PAThe charred walls of the home in Sutton, south London, after the tragedy[/caption]
Single mum Rose, 30, was jailed for 10 years over the heartbreaking deaths of Bryson and Kyson Hoath, aged four, and Logan and Leyton Hoath, who were three, after a trial at the Old Bailey in January this year.
Having left the four boys alone at the locked property on Collingwood Road, she was seen on CCTV shopping for “non-essential” items while her children perished.
With investigators believing the blaze was sparked by a discarded cigarette or an upturned tea-light, the fire quickly took hold inside the house, covered in human waste and rubbish, the court heard.
The boys were desperately heard screaming, “There’s a fire”, as neighbours and later firefighters fought to rescue them, but despite being pulled from the blaze, they could not be saved.
In an attempt to cover up leaving the children alone, she claimed to have left them with a friend called “Jade” – meaning firefighters went back into the property fearing someone else was still inside.
But police later concluded that “Jade” either did not exist or was not present on the fateful night on December 16th 2021.
The deaths rocked the local community with an outpouring of grief at a vigil where balloons were released and hundreds attended – even the firefighters who battled to save them were in the crowd.
Four years on, the twins’ grieving aunt revealed to The Sun how the family has been unfairly targeted by trolls, who cruelly blame them for the tragedy.
The reality is that the rest of the family had no idea how neglected the boys were, claims aunt Casey Hoath, the sister of the twins’ dad, Dalton Hoath, who had been all but cut off by Rose.
Single mum Rose – who clutched a toy throughout her trial – forbade anyone from coming over and instead insisted on going to them, or fixing a “meeting point”.
Behind the scenes, the children were living in a squalid-strewn home, with calf-deep “rubbish thickly spread throughout” and a “very strong, unpleasant smell”.
She says: “It has been a shock and so devastating for our family.”
Met Police Deveca Rose could be seen shopping as her four children died[/caption]
Casey Hoath – the boys’ aunt, who was taking her GCSEs when the tragedy unfolded – is now campaigning for social services to be more forceful in cases like this
The kids are remembered as “funny, bubbly, really smart boys” by their family
PASingle mum Deveca Rose arriving at the Old Bailey for her trial for the manslaughter of the boys who were locked in the house[/caption]
The court was told: “The toilet and the bath were full of rubbish and could not be used. Buckets and pots were used as toilets instead.”
The kids hadn’t gone to school for three weeks before they died.
Alongside everyone else, Casey said the family were horrified when the “gut-churning” details emerged in court.
She told The Sun: “With my four nephews, their mum didn’t engage with social services and wouldn’t let them do home visits.
“My brother had no idea about how they were living. I believe if social services had broken in, then a lot of lives would have been saved.”
Despite their own devastating loss, they are determined to try and stop a similar tragedy from happening again, calling for social services to do far more when concerns are raised for children’s welfare, with this petition.
Boys hid under bed to escape flames
Rose had left her kids alone in “squalor” as she shopped in Sainsbury’s, while a blaze ripped through the property – started by either a tea light or a cigarette at around 7pm.
The court heard that there were no fire alarms, and a mattress and a door blocked the staircase, which hampered efforts to rescue the kids.
The boys screamed for help, and brave neighbours desperately tried to break in and rescue them – but the flames were too intense and they were forced back.
The night of the fire was like living someone else’s life.
Casey Hoath
By the time firefighters arrived and battled their way through the neglected house, the boys had hidden under a bed to try and escape the raging inferno.
The crews dragged the kids out and laid them on the pavement as they desperately performed CPR – a sight which traumatised residents watching on, willing the youngsters to live.
The boys were rushed to the hospital but sadly could not be saved, and they died later that night.
The boys’ parents had split up six months after the birth of the youngest twins, and their dad, Dalton, told how he’d had no idea that the kids were living in such squalid conditions.
Gary StoneFlowers were left outside the house after the fire[/caption]
Steve BellDeveca Rose leaving Bromley Magistrates’ Court[/caption]
Peter JordanFour blue teddies left at the scene following the fire[/caption]
His sister Casey Hoath – who was taking her GCSEs when the tragedy unfolded – is now campaigning for social services to be more forceful in cases like this to stop any more children from suffering.
She said in her victim impact statement: “The night of the fire was like living someone else’s life.”
Social services were aware of the Rose family’s situation but stopped visiting because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and when she refused to let them in, claiming the kids were asleep.
The filthy condition of the house and the mum’s declining health had raised “alarm bells”, and the boys’ school had become concerned.
But there were multiple failed attempts to follow up with the family, and the case was closed three months before the fatal fire due to “non-engagement”.
Casey said that the dad’s family didn’t even know about the state of the house until it came out in court – three years later.
She says: “We found out about the conditions they were living in three years later, in court. We weren’t told, my brother wasn’t told.
“When we found out, it was absolutely gut-churning; it was such a shock. It has been a shock and so devastating for our family.”
Boys were ‘forgotten about by social services’
Casey recalls her nephews as “bubbly, smart boys” and fondly remembers their holidays to Peppa Pig World.
Despite not being allowed to the house, the dad and his family saw the boys regularly.
Casey added: “We always saw the kids on weekends when they came to stay with my brother.
“We took them to Peppa Pig World, saw them on Christmas and special occasions. They were funny, bubbly, really smart boys. They were so cheeky.
“We’re just trying to make a difference so other people don’t go through the same thing.”
The boys with their dad Dalton
PATributes were left outside of the home following the devastating fire[/caption]
Refer to CaptionFirefighters pulled the boys from the burning home but they could not be saved[/caption]
Casey explained: “There was one woman who was on her way out of the social services who put the case in the system and flagged it as needing a follow-up, but they never did. It just got forgotten about.”
In the years since she lost her beloved nephews, she says their dad’s side of the family has faced a lot of online abuse, even to this day.
She added: “It is very hard to get across to people that our side of the family didn’t know anything.
I adored the boys – they were funny, full of character and just happy go lucky.
Casey Hoath
“All I’ve had on social media for the last four years is abuse, asking ‘why didn’t you do something’, ‘why weren’t you there’.
“But we didn’t know. We weren’t allowed in. We’ve been dealing with this abuse for four years, and when I put the petition up.
“I felt so useless…It’s already happened, so there’s nothing I can do now, but I can try to stop it from happening to anyone else.
“People just don’t understand how it has been for us, how it’s affected our family.
“Everything said in court…we had no idea until then. We weren’t told anything.
“We can’t change what happened, but we can try our best to get this petition out and stop it from happening to other families.”
The twins’ grandmother, Kerry, said the boys were “cruelly taken away” from them by their mother.
She told The Sun: “We didn’t know anything about the mental health problems that came up. But she clearly wasn’t looking after herself.”
Describing how Rose made sure to keep the family away from the squalid house, she said: “We always had a meeting point.
“She would always say ‘I’ll come to you’ or ‘let’s meet here’ when we saw them.
“We never had the option of going to the house, so we had no idea about the conditions until it came out in court.
“We weren’t allowed in the house. When we found out, it destroyed my husband. When we saw the photos of the house, how they’d been living… we asked that they not be shown.
“I don’t want my son to ever see that.”
When the trial was ongoing at London’s Old Bailey court, she remembers that there were other cases being heard where the circumstances were harrowingly similar.
Kerry adds: “There were two other child neglect cases going on at the same time.
“It’s such a massive problem. We really want to change things so that no other children go through this and lose their lives.”
Losing sons was ‘worst day of my life’
One of the cases being heard that day was that of Sara Sharif, where social services did nothing to intervene even when a teacher reported bruises on the little girl’s face.
The 10-year-old girl was tortured by her dad Urfan, a serial abuser of vulnerable women who beat her to death.
Speaking about Deveca Rose, gran Kerry told the court: “The disregard she showed towards our boys has been echoed throughout this whole trial as our family had to endure three years of lies, delays and false narratives.”
Dad Dalton said at the time that losing his sons was “the worst day of my life”.
In a statement read to the court, he said: “Their lives had just begun, but were cut so short. It was every parent’s worst nightmare.
“I will never recover from losing my beautiful, funny, happy boys. The painful memories and images are etched in my brain, but I have to fight for all of us left behind and live with this massive pain in my heart until it is my time to meet with them again.”
A health visitor from Sutton Council visited the family five times between November 2018 and January 2020, but only gained access to the home on three of those.
Central NewsSocial services failed to intervene due to ‘non-engagement’ of the mum[/caption]
Central NewsKyson and Bryson Hoath, aged four, and Leyton and Logan Hoath, aged three[/caption]
PASentencing Rose, Judge Lucraft said: “You will have to live with the knowledge you bear responsibility for the deaths of your four children”[/caption]
When she left the council, no other visits occurred, despite her recommendations for follow-ups.
During the trial, the prosecutor criticised social services, blasting: “There were high risk factors, alarm bells ringing, particularly when you go into the home and the home is in a filthy condition.”
Teachers had become concerned when they noticed the boys’ book bags smelled like cigarettes and pet urine.
During the court case, it was heard that Rose’s mental and physical health was plummeting, but social services “tiptoed” around her.
The defence lawyer told the court: “There was a clear decline in all aspects of Ms Rose’s life. Her physical appearance, the home, her relationships, all those things we see, she neglected.
“It is the job of people put in a position of authority charged with overseeing the health and safety of children to be robust and proactive, not to tiptoe around.”
Jonathan Williams, director of Children’s Services for the London Borough of Sutton, said at the time: “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.”
Rose was found guilty of four counts of manslaughter following a trial at the Old Bailey and has been locked up for 10 years.
She was cleared of a single count of child cruelty.
Sentencing her, Judge Lucraft said: “You will have to live with the knowledge you bear responsibility for the deaths of your four children.”
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