New Malden child deaths return ‘inconclusive’ post-mortem results

THE post-mortem examinations carried out on three South African children found dead last week at a five-bedroom house on Thetford Road in New Malden, south-west London, have returned inconclusive results, according to Scotland Yard.

The police said the examination “did not establish a cause of death”, adding that further tests had been ordered at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, where the initial autopsies on the Clarence children had been conducted two days after their deaths. Scotland Yard had reported that the two three-year-old twin boys named Ben and Max and a four-year-old girl named Olivia had, however, been pronounced dead on the scene.

There were speculations in the meantime that the bodies of the children may have been lying dead for several days before the police were alerted to the case.

It was further revealed that the children’s mother, South African-born Tania Clarence, 42, has been charged with their murder at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court, and is expected to appear at the Central Criminal Court at the Old Bailey in the course of May. She did not enter a plea after confirming her identity in court. Tania Clarence remains in custody during ongoing court proceedings.

The children’s father, South African native Gary Clarence, was also present at the Magistrates Court where Mrs. Clarence was charged with three counts of murder, having to return from South Africa during holidays with the couple’s sole surviving daughter, Taya.

The couple’s three children were reportedly suffering from a severely life-limiting genetic disorder called “Spinal Muscular Atrophy” and were in need of constant special care. Commonly known as ‘floppy baby syndrome’ it is a severely disabling condition and can typically shorten life expectancy to single digits in most instance although there are exception in severity. The couple’s eldest daughter Taya did not suffer from the inherited disorder.

The family’s home had only recently been fitted with lifts for wheelchairs to accommodate the children’s sever disabilities. Despite receiving assistance from nannies and special carers, a friend of Tania Clarence’s went on record with the press, saying that she was suffering to cope with the stresses of rearing three disabled children.

Neighbours described the couple in highly positive terms, saying that they were “really, really lovely people”.

By Sertan Sanderson, 2014