A mother who drowned her two young children at their home has been convicted of their murders.

Kara Alexander, 47, of Dagenham, killed two-year-old Elijah Thomas and five-year-old Marley Thomas in the bath at their home in December 2022.

Post-mortem examinations determined that their cause of death was either drowning or suffocation. During the trial, Alexander admitted that she had placed the boys in the bath but claimed they had "accidentally" drowned.

The jury at Kingston Crown Court heard that the children's father, Selvin Thomas, had been due to collect them that weekend. When he received no responses to his messages and calls, he grew increasingly concerned.

Upon visiting the home, Alexander told him the children were asleep upstairs.

However, when he went to check on them, he found their bodies in the lower bunk of their shared bunk bed, dressed in pyjamas.

As the boys' father ran downstairs to call for help, Alexander fled through neighbouring gardens.

Emergency services attended the scene, but the children had already been dead for several hours. Police located Alexander about an hour later.

Alexander denied murder, claiming she had fallen asleep and that the boys had drowned while unsupervised.

Prosecutors argued that, given their ages, it was highly improbable that they could have drowned accidentally and that the only reasonable explanation was that Alexander had intervened to cause their deaths.

Samantha Yelland, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "Our thoughts remain with Elijah and Marley's family and friends who have been completely devastated by their loss.

"It is unimaginable to think what those poor children went through in their final moments.

"It is a parent's job to keep their children safe, and Kara Alexander not only failed to do that but robbed them of their lives.

"I hope today's verdict will provide the family with some closure, knowing that Alexander has been held accountable for their murders."

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Waller, who led the investigation, said: "Our thoughts are with the family, especially the boys' father who found them dead when he went to collect them for the weekend after Kara Alexander had failed to return his messages.

"No parent should have to go through such a horrific experience, and then have to listen to the detailed evidence highlighting what led up to these events.

"I would also like to praise those who were first on scene - our colleagues and the paramedics - who also experienced this traumatic event first hand.

"This has been a difficult investigation for everyone involved. This guilty verdict cannot turn back the clock but it does provide the children's family with some form of resolution."

Alexander will be sentenced on April 11.