Mother charged with killing three children

A mother has been charged with murdering three of her children.

Tania Clarence, 42, is to appear in custody at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court in south west London today, Scotland Yard said.

Postmortem examinations are being carried out at Great Ormond Street Hospital on the children who have been named as three-year-old twins Ben and Max, and four-year-old Olivia.

They were found dead at their home in New Malden, south west London, on Tuesday night.

It is reported that the children were suffering from Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) — a life-limiting genetic illness.

The inherited disease, which is also known as floppy baby syndrome, leaves children with little or no control of their movements.

Their father, Gary, who works as a director at City bank Investec, was said to be away in the family’s native South Africa with the couple’s eight-year-old daughter when the deaths occurred.

Friends of the investment banker’s wife have told of her struggle to care for her family.

A friend told the South African website Times Live: “They (Tania and Gary) did not go and have babies knowing they were giving them a genetic disease. She’s been slammed for having three kids with SMA.

“They had the one child, their second child, who was young, only a few months old, when she fell pregnant (with the twins). It was not planned, but they felt they could cope.

“While she was pregnant, the second child was diagnosed as having SMA. The twins were then born premature and they stayed in hospital for a long time. The (parents) then asked for the twins to be tested for SMA as well.

“She came home with three kids severely disabled.

“Everything was regulated, everything they ate diarised. I bet Tania had not had a decent night’s sleep in a few years.”

The friend said the three children needed feeding tubes and, while the couple employed a carer and home help, they did not have round-the-clock assistance.

The friend added: “They tried to have a normal family life in the evening, by not having a house full of carers. Tania’s borne the brunt (of it). Gary is a businessman and had to (travel).”

A spokesman for the family told the Cape Argus that Mr Clarence was in “absolute shock” at the tragedy.

The family are still in mourning following the death of Mr Clarence’s father, Brian, last October, the newspaper reported.

Mr Clarence’s family, including his mother, Anne, and sister, Derri Phillips, are understood to have flown to the UK to support him.