A father who killed his two young children and then tried to kill their mother has been jailed for life. Uber driver Endris Mohammed will serve at least 33 years after he smothered his eight-year-old son Saros and his six-year-old sister Leanor, with a petrol-soaked rag before setting fire to their home in Holland Road, Hamstead .
Mohammed’s wife, Penil Teklehaimanot, discovered her “lifeless” children in the living room and carried them out into the lawn where emergency services tried in vain to resuscitate them. Mohammed, 47, was found guilty of two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder on Friday, following a two-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court.
After murdering his children, Mohammed then drove to a road in Newcastle-under-Lyme where he was discovered next to his taxi having suffered severe burns to his head and hands. On Friday, he pursed his lips but showed no other sign of emotion as he was found guilty just 30 minutes after the jury retired. He did not give evidence during his defence case but argued through his legal team that he was depressed about his future amid money worries. Mohammed met his wife in 2006 in Kent, after they came to Britain from East Africa as asylum seekers.
Commenting after the verdicts, Det Insp Justin Spanner, of West Midlands Police, described the deaths as an “absolutely horrific” set of events. The officer said: “The evidence of the pre-planning, the fact that two children have lost their lives, who were so young, vibrant, and were doing so well at school and had such a wonderful future ahead of them both – this has to be one of the worst cases I’ve dealt with. “Had the fire taken hold, and had gas escaped from the pipe, it could have caused an immense explosion and killed even more people than we are dealing with at the moment.
“Penil has lost absolutely everything in this. She has lost her children, her husband who she trusted and loved the most, she has lost her house. “She is an extremely brave lady who has been put through not only that, but also having to go to court to give evidence. “The investigation team, and the I’m sure the community, hope that she is able to find a way of going forward.”
Source: Birmingham Mail
