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| Father admits child bath murders | Father admits child bath murders |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| A father has been sentenced to life and ordered to serve a minimum of 35 years after admitting murdering his two young children in their bath. | A father has been sentenced to life and ordered to serve a minimum of 35 years after admitting murdering his two young children in their bath. |
| Perry Samuel, 35, who has manic depression, smothered Aidan, three, and Caitlin, five, at their home in Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire. | Perry Samuel, 35, who has manic depression, smothered Aidan, three, and Caitlin, five, at their home in Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire. |
| Judge John Rogers said he believed Samuel had been motivated by malice against the children's mother. | |
| But Samuel is said to be the only one who knows exactly what happened. | |
| A review by the council and health agencies who had been involved with Samuel has begun and is expected to report back later in the year. | |
| Sentencing Samuel at Mold Crown Court, Judge John Rogers said: "You took them one after the other and put your hand over the mouth and the nose, disregarding their desperate struggle to get air into their lungs. You left your hands there until life itself had left their bodies." | |
| Samuel's defence counsel Stephen Riordan said that the truth of what happened was "remains in his (Samuel's) head" | |
| Samuel had told police the children had been having a bath and he remembered smoking a cigarette on the doorstep, hearing playful splashing upstairs. | Samuel had told police the children had been having a bath and he remembered smoking a cigarette on the doorstep, hearing playful splashing upstairs. |
| Mr Riordan said he told police that then "everything went wacko." | Mr Riordan said he told police that then "everything went wacko." |
| Caitlin and Aidan Samuel were pronounced dead at hospital | Caitlin and Aidan Samuel were pronounced dead at hospital |
| "He can remember kneeling alongside the bath and falling against the wall. His jumper was wet and he took it off. The children were in the water," the barrister added. | "He can remember kneeling alongside the bath and falling against the wall. His jumper was wet and he took it off. The children were in the water," the barrister added. |
| Mr Riordan explained that Samuel was took scared to call police straight away. Post mortem examinations suggested the time of death at some time between 8 and 9.30pm. | Mr Riordan explained that Samuel was took scared to call police straight away. Post mortem examinations suggested the time of death at some time between 8 and 9.30pm. |
| The children's mother, Sarah Graham, was away at a pop concert in Manchester and had left her partner to care for the siblings. | The children's mother, Sarah Graham, was away at a pop concert in Manchester and had left her partner to care for the siblings. |
| The court heard that at one point, she had split up with Samuel, and Samuel had become depressed about it. | |
| But at the time of the murders, they had reunited - although Samuel had looked at text messages on Ms Graham's mobile phone and might have suspected she was seeing a male friend. | |
| Judge Rogers said: "I believe that your motivation was simply malice, malice against the children's mother." | |
| The court heard Ms Graham "wishes she could just go to sleep and not wake up." | |
| A statement read to the court by the prosecution said: "Her life will never be thesame, the defendant destroyed her life, she lost her children, her home and herpartner." | |
| "She said: 'We didn't have the perfect relationship but I thought he loved meand the children, I never thought he could kill the children'." | |