London - When Tania Clarence killed her three young severely disabled children “overwhelmed by the terrible strain of looking after them” their tragic deaths shocked the nation and inspired a wave of sympathy for her and her family. Four months ago she pleaded guilty on the grounds of diminished responsibility to the manslaughter of her three-year-old twin sons and four-year-old daughter.
She was sentenced by an Old Bailey judge to be detained in a psychiatric hospital until her recovery was complete. Now The Mail on Sunday can reveal that she has been allowed to return to the family home where the killings took place.
At the court hearing in November, Mrs Clarence was described as a loving and caring mother who had smothered twins Max and Ben and daughter Olivia while in the grip of a severe bout of mental illness brought on by what Mr Justice Sweeney called the “unbearable pressure” of caring for them.
Mrs Clarence’s solicitor said it was one of the saddest cases to come before the criminal courts. Her client’s plea was accepted by the prosecution and the judge imposed a sentence known as a Hospital Order. He ruled that the 43-year-old would need psychiatric treatment and therapy “for the foreseeable future” and would not be released until she had recovered from her illness.
Last week she was photographed for the first time at the house in New Malden, Surrey, where the killings took place. Wearing blue jeans and a dark top and looking like any other mother on the afternoon school run, she arrived at the £1.2 million detached property in a Hyundai people carrier with a small suitcase on wheels and what appeared to be a bag of shopping.
She was accompanied by another woman and a young girl - thought to be her only surviving child, who was eight years old when the terrible events occurred last April. All three went into the seven-bedroom house and the unidentified woman left half an hour later, driving off in a silver Mazda.
Mrs Clarence declined to comment when she was approached by a Mail on Sunday reporter but her husband Gary, when told that an article about the family was being prepared for publication this weekend, said: “Okay, fine.”
The South African-born investment banker was on a trip to his home country with their eldest daughter when the killings took place. It is understood that his wife was given a temporary licence several weeks ago to leave the hospital where she is being treated and has been returning home on a regular basis at weekends.
Max, Ben and Olivia all had spinal muscular atrophy, which is a devastating muscle-wasting illness sometimes referred to as “floppy baby syndrome”. The surviving daughter does not have the condition. Mrs Clarence, who was severely depressed at the time, lied to the family nanny so she could be alone with the three youngest children while her husband and older daughter were away. After asphyxiating them in their beds, she made what was described in court as a “determined effort” to kill herself.
The judge said the evidence of her diminished responsibility for the children’s deaths was “clear and convincing”. Psychiatrists had explained “in compelling detail” that her mental illness had substantially impaired her ability to form a rational judgment.
The judge said she was a dedicated and caring mother who loved her children but had been overwhelmed by the challenge of caring for them.
On Saturday night the NHS trust responsible for Mrs Clarence’s treatment declined to comment on the grounds of patient confidentiality. The hospital where she is being treated also cannot be named for legal reasons.
Up to 60 therapists, doctors, nurses and other specialists had been involved with the family over the years, sometimes arriving at the house unannounced and leaving Mrs Clarence feeling insecure and upset, the court was told. She had frequently clashed with doctors over the children’s treatment and there was criticism during the hearing of the way that health professionals had dealt with the family. It emerged that Mrs Clarence felt she was being pressed into agreeing to intrusive operations and medical procedures for the children that she thought were inappropriate.
She and her husband were said to want to put quality of life above longevity for Ben, Max and Olivia but some medical experts in contact with the family disagreed.
The standard of care and support the family received is now the subject of a serious case review by Kingston-upon-Thames Council. After smothering the twins in their beds and surrounding their bodies with toys, Mrs Clarence wrote a letter to her husband telling him that she also intended to kill Olivia.
“Gary, I need to tell you how difficult it is for me to take Liv’s life...The boys were bad enough. I am struggling with Liv.
“I waited until the boys were asleep, the same with Liv. If I could take my own life and leave her to wait for you, I would.”
Mr Clarence, 45, is standing by his wife. He left the Old Bailey saying the killings were “a tragedy from which lessons need to be learnt”.
He said at the time: “Tania’s depression was certainly not assisted by the constant pressure placed on the family by some individuals within the medical profession and social services.”
The SA couple met at university in Stellenbosch. She was training to be a graphic designer. His family owns a hotel and conference centre in Johannesburg.
As an adult Mrs Clarence had suffered from depression “which also affected several of her relatives. She had also been involved in an “abusive” relationship with a longstanding boyfriend before her marriage.
The Clarences moved to Britain 20 years ago and settled in South-West London before moving to New Malden, where they spent thousands of pounds adapting the house to the needs of their disabled children.
Imposing the Hospital Order at the Old Bailey in November, Mr Justice Sweeney told Mrs Clarence: “This was [not] a mercy killing in the sense in which that phrase is normally used.
“The children did not ask to be killed and you did not, and do not, seek to justify your actions as being justified in mercy. What you did was the product of your mental illness.”