Mum jailed for 21 years for drowning sons in bath

Kara Alexander was in a cannabis-induced psychotic state, the judge said

A mother who drowned her two young sons in the bath in what a judge described as "the stuff of nightmares" has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

Kara Alexander, 47, of Dagenham, was found guilty of murdering Elijah Thomas, two, and Marley Thomas, five, at their Cornwallis Road home in 2022.

Sentencing her to at least 21 years and 252 days, Mr Justice Bennathan said Alexander had been in a psychotic state after smoking cannabis and had "unspeakably" held them underwater for "up to a minute or two".

Met Police detective Paul Waller said to the boys' family that "no amount of time will erase the pain of such a loss but I hope this sentence serves to bring some semblance of justice".

'Lives snatched away'

Post-mortem examinations concluded the boys had drowned in east London on the evening of 15 December 2022.

Sentencing Alexander, the judge said: "You'd been smoking skunk [strong cannabis]. You'd been doing so every night for weeks, probably much longer.

"At some stage, both the boys were in their pyjamas ready for bed, with Elijah also wearing his nappy. You drowned them both by your deliberate acts."

The judge said there was every sign Alexander was a "caring and affectionate" mother to both children before the events of December 15.

He pointed out that their father said Alexander "never shouted or raised her voice at the boys" and "never showed violence to the boys".

Mr Justice Bennathan said Alexander was in a psychotic state when she killed her sons and that it was cannabis induced.

Referring to aggravating factors in this case, Mr Justice Bennathan noted "the vulnerability of the boys by their young age and the shocking abuse of the trust that any small child ought to be able to have in their mother or father".

The judge said Alexander will mourn her sons for the rest of her life.

"From all that I have read and seen of you, I have no doubt that every day when you awake you will remember and grieve for the little boys whose lives you snatched away," he said.

'Haunt her forever'

The jury previously heard how the children's father was due to look after the boys during the upcoming weekend and became concerned as Alexander had not contacted him.

On arrival at their home, she told him the children were upstairs sleeping, the court was told.

But when he went upstairs, he found the boys' bodies together in the lower bunk of their shared bunk bed dressed in pyjamas, having died several hours earlier.

Det Ch Insp Waller said: "This is an incredibly tragic case, which has left a father without his two beloved boys and a family without two young brothers.

"Kara Alexander will spend the next two decades behind bars, where the memory of what she has done will haunt her forever.

"I hope you can now move on with your life, remembering the boys as you knew them, and treasuring the happy times you spent with them."