Mum who stabbed her children to death faces indefinite hospital order

A mother who stabbed her children to death before trying to knife her ex-husband faces an indefinite hospital order after a jury found she was responsible for the attacks.

Veronique John inflicted injuries which led to the deaths of her children, aged seven and 11, at their home, a Nottingham Crown Court jury has found.

A fact-finding trial was told John, of Flax Street, Stoke, Staffordshire, stabbed Elizabeth and Ethan John in June last year, but was unfit to enter a plea to charges of murder and attempted murder due to mental illness.

Jurors deliberated for around 40 minutes before unanimously ruling that the 50-year-old unlawfully inflicted fatal neck and head injuries on her children and stabbed her husband in the stomach.

John, who was not in court to hear the jury's findings, now faces a mandatory hospital order admitting her to Nottinghamshire's Rampton high-security hospital.

Eleven-year-old Ethan John

Seven-year-old Elizabeth John

Police and ambulances outside the family home on Flax Street after the attacks

Trial judge Mr Justice Choudhury adjourned the disposal of the case against Veronique John until 2pm.

Following the findings that John did the acts of unlawfully killing her children and attempting to kill Mr John, the judge said the jury may have wondered why the trial was necessary given the "strong and overwhelming evidence".

The judge has made clear that the only disposal available in the "unusual" circumstances of the case is an indefinite hospital order.

This is a breaking news story. More to follow.

Read more