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A half brother and sister who had six children together have been jailed for murdering two of them fearing they were about to be taken into care.

Incestuous Sarah Barrass, 35, and Brandon Machin, 39, were branded ‘evil’ in court today as they were told they would serve at least 35 years behind bars.

They plotted to take the lives of all six of their children but only succeeded in murdering the oldest two, Tristan, 13, and Blake, 14.

Barrass strangled Tristan with a dressing gown cord at their home in Sheffield on May 24 while Machin used his bare hands to throttle Blake. They then put binbags over their heads to make sure they were dead.




They each admitted two counts of murder, conspiracy to murder six children and five counts of attempted murder.

Mr Justice Goss told Barrass: ‘You considered your love for them and fear of being parted from them entitled you to take their lives as well as your own.’

Sarah Barrass strangled Tristan to death with a dressing gown cord (Picture: SWNS)

Blake (left) and Tristan Barrass (right) were strangled to death (Picture: PA)

Outlining the case, prosecutor Kama Melly QC said the pair hatched the horrific plan because they feared the children were going to be taken into care.

The court heard that Barrass had also threatened her children in the past.

‘Visitors to Miss Barrass’s house would hear her tell the boys “I gave you life, I can take it away”,’ the prosecutor said.

‘Speaking to the boys in that way was described as an everyday thing.’

Ms Melly explained how the duo scraped together various pills from around the house during the evening of May 23 and divided the pile between the four eldest children.

‘None of the children wanted to take the tablets but were forced to do so,’ she added.

‘The defendants expected the tablets to kill the children overnight.’

Barrass then sent messages and posted on social media saying they were ill with a bug.

But when it became clear the tablets had not had the desired effect, she began searching for different ways to murder them, including suffocation, strangulation and drowning.

Brandon Machin strangled Blake with his bare hands after volunteering to help Barrass ‘to the best of his ability’ (Picture: SWNS)

The judge later lifted reporting restrictions which had prevented them being identified as half-siblings (Picture: PA)

Barrass later called Machin to tell him the sick plan had failed and that he needed to come to the house.

‘They decided the children were better off dead than in care and he said he would help Sarah Barrass to the best of his ability,’ Ms Melly said.

Barrass choked Tristan by wrapping a dressing gown cord around his neck and pulling for around three minutes.

The court heard Machin strangled Blake with his bare hands after he’d seen his mother throttling his brother and the pair then placed bin bags over the boys’ heads ‘to ensure their certain death’.

They then ran a bath and repeatedly tried to drown one of the younger children, the court heard.

Following the murders, and the attempted murder of the younger child, Barrass took the surviving children into her bedroom where she eventually called the police.

The horrific crimes came to light after police declared a ‘major’ incident at the family home in Sheffield (Picture: SWNS)

Two children died and four were taken to hospital (Picture: SWNS)

Tributes left to the murdered boys (Picture: SWNS)

The court heard Barrass asked for help with her children from the local authority.



Miss Melly said the mother-of-six messaged a friend saying: ‘I’ve thought of every possible solution to this mess. Mass murder, putting them all in care, checking in to the local nut house.

‘I love my kids too much to kill them, I can’t put them into care for the same reason.’

Barrass’ barrister, Bryan Cox QC, described her crimes as ‘evil and nothing but evil’, but said she was ‘profoundly damaged by her childhood’.

‘The defendant was desperate to prevent her children being taken into care,’ he said.

‘She couldn’t cope with the prospect of them being removed.’

The court heard Barrass told police she planned to kill the younger two children and herself after the older four had died.

She described how the children were ‘terrified’ as she tried to make them swallow the tablets and the child she tried to drown was ‘hysterical’ as she held his head under the water.

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