Claire Throssell is campaigning for a change to the law to remove the ‘presumption of contact’ awarded to domestic abusers
The mum of two children who were murdered by their own father has called on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to ‘keep children safe’.
Claire Throssell, whose two sons were killed by their dad on a court approved access visit, told MPs at the Labour Party conference today (Tuesday) that guidelines must be changed to end the culture of ‘presumption of contact’.
Jack, 12, and his nine-year-old brother Paul died after their evil father, Darren Sykes, lured them to the attic of the family home and set fire to the house in October 2014, also killing himself.
Now, Claire, 53, from Penistone, Sheffield, is calling on the government to change the laws and review the family justice system in a bid to prevent more children being murdered at the hands of an abusive parent.
“When I lost my two sons, that was because under the existing Children’s Act the judge will automatically presume it is in the child’s best interest to see both parents,” she told the Mirror. “I’d suffered domestic abuse for 16 years and I knew that he [Sykes] was capable of killing the boys. I shouted and screamed it from the rooftops but I wasn’t heard. I wasn’t seen. And my two boys died in my arms just a few months later aged nine and 12.”
Family courts have a ‘pro-contact’ culture, with guidelines recommending that children in custody cases see both parents. But a recent Women’s Aid report revealed that in the decade since Jack and Paul were murdered, another 19 children in England and Wales have been killed by a parent, or parental figure, who was given access to them despite being the perpetrator of domestic abuse.
The harrowing Nineteen More Child Homicides report, published by Women’s Aid this year, explains the youngest child was just three weeks old and the eldest was 11. In all but one case, the killer was a man, and 15 children were killed by their own father.
The charity, which tracks child homicides, claims 67 children have died at the hands of perpetrators of domestic abuse over the last 30 years. “Jack and Paul were children 18 and 19 back in 2014. Now we’re in 2025 and we’re up to child 67,” says Claire.
In January, Labour MP Marie Tidball led a debate calling for a change in the law to remove the family court’s presumption of contact. Claire says: “The government promised to reveal their findings after a review following the HARM panel report, which showed children were at risk in the family courts due to presumption of contact.
“It was important for me to be at the Labour Party conference, to be a testament to Jack and Paul, for them to be known and to share their lives with people. To share how their lives were taken from me in the cruellest of ways.”
Claire’s sons were murdered by their father during an access visit, despite the heartbroken mum warning the Family Court, Social Service and Cafcas that her ex-husband was capable of murder.
But 11 years on, she still smiles with pride at how Jack’s dying act was to protect his little brother. “He used his strength to pull Paul to the attic hatchway, and he lost his life believing he’d saved his brother’s, because I never told him Paul had died too,” says Claire.
“Jack told the fire fighters, as they cradled him in their arms, ‘My dad did this and he did it on purpose.’ I’m so proud of that boy of mine. Their story deserved to be told to as many people as possible, and hopefully it will save other lives.”
Determined to keep campaigning to protect children, Claire has written a book For My Boys, which will be published next week (October 9), calling on the government to change the presumption of contact guidelines. She launched a petition in 2016 to end the pro-contact culture, as part of her Child First campaign . After gaining 100,000 signatures it was debated in parliament.
She wants to remind the Labour Party of what they promised in their manifesto when they were elected to government: to halve violence against women and girls.
“How many more children have to die before the government stands up and does something? And how many more children have to die knowing their own parent or guardian is ending their life?” she says.
“I want to see that promise come through, and I want to know that every child in this country has a chance to live, and to have a future that was taken away from me.”
*For My Boys by Claire Throssell will be published by Mirror Books on October 9. To preorder on Amazon now go to https://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Boys-Claire-Throssell/dp/1917439326