A mother who killed herself and her two young children with fatal overdoses of methadone left a note saying 'no one is to separate me from my babies', an inquest heard today.

Dolce-Mai Dada, nine, and Rhys Dada, three, were found dead last January in their Greenwich home after ingesting a toxic mix of drugs, alongside their mother Sydnie-Blu Macfarlane, 28.

In the days before her death Ms Macfarlane told a friend she had 'nothing to live for' and her former partner Sean Dada was seeking full custody of their children.

She said she was facing eviction from her home, and had recently fallen pregnant and miscarried.

A letter found in Ms Macfarlane's home entitled 'to Mum and family' read: 'I guess no one will ever understand why I done what I done.'

The inquest at Southwark Coroner's Court heard how a handwritten note was found in the house stating: 'We are to be buried together. No one is to separate me from my babies.'

Sydnie-Blu Macfarlane (pictured) killed herself and her two young children with fatal overdoses of methadone left a note saying 'no one is to separate me from my babies', an inquest heard today

Dolce-Mai Dada smiling and holding her baby brother Rhys Dada in a picture taken in 2014

Dolce-Mai Dada, nine, and Rhys Dada, three, pictured together. In the days before her death Ms Macfarlane told a friend she had 'nothing to live for' and her former partner Sean Dada was seeking full custody of their children

Dolce-Mai Dada, nine, and Rhys Dada, three, (pictured) were found dead last January in their Greenwich home after ingesting a toxic mix of drugs, alongside their mother Sydnie-Blu Macfarlane, 28

In the days before her death Ms Macfarlane told a friend she had 'nothing to live for' and her former partner Sean Dada was seeking full custody of their children. Pictured is Dolce-Mai

The inquest at Southwark Coroner's Court heard how a handwritten note was found in the house stating: 'We are to be buried together. No one is to separate me from my babies.' Pictured is Sydnie-Blu Macfarlane

The inquest heard when emergency services were called on 30 January last year to the address in Greenwich, south-east London, an ambulance crew found an adult female and two children dead on a bed under a duvet, with an assortment of drugs nearby.

Paramedic Anna Williamson, from the London Ambulance Service, attended the home just after 6.30pm.

She said she was met by three people, including Ms Macfarlane's sister, at the door.

The paramedic said: 'The sister said she hadn't spoken to the female since January 22 and the two children had not attended school that day.

'A neighbour had managed to use a magnet to get the keys. The door was locked from the inside.'

The crew entered the property and in the lounge found notes on A4 paper laid on the floor.

What paramedics discovered in the house More than 30 sheets of paper, laid out individually with handwriting on them, were found in the house, the court heard. There was also writing on the living room walls, including the phrases: 'She fears for my children and with a mother like me I agree' and 'I'm taking them away from the toxic around them'. Advertisement

There was also writing on the living room walls, including the phrases: 'She fears for my children and with a mother like me I agree' and 'I'm taking them away from the toxic around them'.

Ms Williamson said: 'We went upstairs and opened the bedroom doors and found an adult female and her two children lying on a double bed under a duvet.

'The adult female was lying in her right side facing her two children both lying on their left side.'

All three were pronounced dead at 6.44pm, the inquest heard.

In the room the ambulance crew found a bottle of 'holy water', two religious cards, and a bottle of methadone - a powerful synthetic opiate normally prescribed to heroin addicts - on the floor, which was half full.

Forensic pathologist Dr Nathaniel Carey said traces of both methadone and diphenhydramine - a common sedative - were both found in the childrens's bloodstreams.

Ms Macfarlane's mother Angela Macfarlane told the inquest: 'She was a great mum, a great daughter and I never dreamed that anything like this would happen'

He added that the evidence suggest their bodies had lain in the bed 'for up to a few days prior to being found'.

'There were no injuries to suggest what is called assault or restraint', he added.

Detective Sergeant Dave Brooks told the inquest the notes indicated a 'feeling that she was in a desperate place and she felt she had no other option than to take her own life and [those] of her children'.

WHAT IS METHADONE? Methadone reduces withdrawal symptoms in people addicted to heroin without causing the high. Methadone is used as a pain reliever and as part of drug addiction detoxification and maintenance programs and is only available from certified pharmacies. Methadone can slow or stop breathing, especially when a patient start using it or if a dose is changed. Misuse can cause death and life-threatening heart rhythm disorder. Advertisement

The court heard that in the weeks leading up to her death Ms Macfarlane had been distressed about a number of issues, including the discovery of an infidelity.

In one Facebook messenger conversation, she said: 'I have been sent what I deserved...I am struggling with it all.

'Disgusting things have been said about me...I am tarnished for life.'

Detective Inspector Frances Ruocco, who read Ms Macfarlane's texts, WhatsApp and Facebook messages from January 15 to her death, said it seemed the mother felt 'hopeless'.

The father of the children, Sean Dada, 31, an engineer, said the last time he had seen them was Christmas Day 2016 and had called her on the January 26.

In that call he described her as 'calm' which 'looking back was a bit strange'.

Ms Macfarlane's friend Shauneen Langford-Bell said in the early hours of the Friday before her death, she had spoken to the mother, who sounded 'very upset'.

The inquest at Southwark Coroner's Court (pictured) heard how a handwritten note was found in the house stating: 'We are to be buried together. No one is to separate me from my babies'

'She said she had 28 days to get out of her house, and Sean was filing for full custody, and now she had lost me and she had nothing to live for,' Ms Langford-Bell told the court.

Ms Macfarlane's mother Angela Macfarlane told the inquest: 'She was a great mum, a great daughter and I never dreamed that anything like this would happen.'

Coroner Andrew Harris adjourned the inquest, which will continue on Friday.

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