A mother has been accused of stabbing to death her two children, aged seven and 11, because she did not want her husband to be with them, a jury has been told.
Veronique John allegedly stabbed her son Ethan John more than 20 times and brain-damaged her daughter Elizabeth John before stabbing her partner Nathan John in the stomach in a dressing gown. Went to wash the car.
Hearing the facts Nottingham Veronique John then returned home, dialed 999, and told the operator: 'I'm calling to report that I've just killed my two children,' the crown court was told.
The charity shop worker is then alleged to have told police after arriving at her home in Stoke-on-Trent on June 11 last year: 'If you've got a gun, shoot me. I'm not a monster – he was going to take them away from me.'
It was also alleged that John was seething with rage after being arrested for assaulting her husband while he was suspected of having an affair, later telling interviewing officers: 'I didn't want to. That my husband should get them'.
She said: 'It's something I've been thinking about for a long time – just kill myself and the kids. As long as you guys are not giving me the death penalty, I have nothing more to say.
'I did it because I love my children – to protect the children.
'If there is any possible way that I can be put to death, I would like it. I mean 100 percent.'
During the Crown's trial against John, who was born on the Caribbean island of St Vincent, prosecutor Peter Graves-Smith said his anger was boiling under the surface, a day after he attacked his husband with a piece of cloth. He was arrested for assault. of wood
Addressing jurors on Monday, Mr Graves-Smith said John killed his children hours after doing a 'Ching' internet search asking: 'Can a foreigner be charged with murder in the UK? Is?'
John, of Flex Street, Stoke, has been charged with murder, attempted murder and an alternative count of wounding, but has been ruled incompetent to plead.
The 50-year-old, who is being treated in a secure hospital, was not in the dock to hear the Crown Prince's opening speech.
The court heard that Joan and her husband experienced deep difficulties in their relationship, because she did not want them to have an internet-enabled phone.
On June 9 last year, the jury was told that Joan hit her husband with a piece of wood in a fit of rage as their children were getting ready for bed.
Mr John then complained to the police, who arrested John at his home on the night of June 10 and interviewed him under caution, opting to issue him with a community resolution notice.
Shortly after 2pm on June 11, Joan went to the car wash where her husband had spent the night and stabbed her in the stomach, the court heard.
Recalling what Mr John said later in the 999 call, Mr Graves-Smith said: 'My wife just came to the car wash and stabbed me – she said she'd just hit the kids.'
The prosecutor added: 'What happened on June 11 did not come out of the blue.
'Tenson had increased in the earlier days. That day she went on a rampage, killed her children and attacked Nathan.'
Ethan was pronounced dead in the bedroom after being found with a 17cm-long neck wound, while Elizabeth was found in the living room, with head trauma and 'sharp force wounds' to her stomach. Three parts' were injured.
Before the prosecution opened the case, the trial judge, Mr Justice Choudhary, explained that the task of the judges during the expected six-day trial would be to determine whether he had made the allegations against him.
The judge said: 'This case is a bit unusual – the defendant has been found to be disabled.
'He is unable to participate in the trial in any meaningful sense.
'Your task is to decide whether the defendant committed acts of unlawful wounding and killing of Ethan and Elizabeth which caused their death, and unlawful wounding of Mr John.'
During his opening remarks, the judge also said that such cases naturally evoke strong emotions and urged the jury to always try to evaluate the evidence objectively.
The trial is ongoing.