Mother held for death of 'angels'

24 April 2014 - 08:12 By MARVIN MEINTJIES in London
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DAD: Gary Clarence with the twins, found dead with a sister in their London home, while he was in South Africa.
DAD: Gary Clarence with the twins, found dead with a sister in their London home, while he was in South Africa.
Image: FACEBOOK

"Heartbreaking." That's how a friend and neighbour of Tania Clarence described the circumstances around her arrest on suspicion of murdering her three small children.

The twin boys, aged three, and a four-year-old girl had spinal muscular atrophy, a severe genetic disorder.

The friend, who did not wish to be named, spoke to The Times as crime scene officers suited up and entered the house in the upmarket suburb of New Malden in Surrey, southwestern London, to continue their investigation last night.

Police have yet to formally charge Clarence, 42, or confirm how the children were killed.

Police were called at about 9.30pm on Tuesday to the former South African graphic designer's seven-bedroom home.

Her husband, Gary Clarence, head of healthcare at Investec, was in South Africa with his eldest daughter at the time. The daughter, who is believed to be eight, is healthy and does not suffer from her siblings' disease. Clarence was said to be flying back last night with his mother and was described by friends as "beyond shock".

"My heart goes out to the family, including Tania. It's a tragedy," her friend said.

"They [Tania and Gary] did not go and have babies knowing they were giving them a genetic disease. She's been slammed for having three kids with SMA.

"They had the one child, their second child , who was young, only a few months old, when she fell pregnant [with the twins]. It was not planned, but they felt they could cope.

"While she was pregnant the second child was diagnosed as having SMA. The twins were then born premature and they stayed in hospital for a long time. The [parents] then asked for the twins to be tested for SMA as well.

"She came home with three kids severely disabled!

"Everything was regulated, everything they ate diarised. I bet Tania had not had a decent night's sleep in a few years."

The children, said the friend, needed feeding tubes, among other daily interventions. The couple employed a carer and a domestic, but did not have 24-hour carers.

"They . tried to have a normal family life in the evening, by not having a house full of carers. Tania's borne the brunt [of it]. Gary is a businessman and had to [travel].

"Everybody who met her could not but be compassionate. Most would think 'there but for the grace of God go I'," said the friend.

"Everybody complains about their kids but at least they're healthy. It just puts your life into perspective.

"[The parents] just both turned out to be carriers [of spinal muscular atrophy]. It was dreadful."

The Clarences spent close to a year renovating and expanding their home in New Malden, a semi listed at £1.1-million (about R19-million at today's exchange rate) in one of the suburb's best streets, before moving in last year. They installed a lift for their wheelchair-bound children.

A care facility that has had contact with the family would not comment until their names were officially released by the Metropolitan Police. However, it confirmed it had had "some contact with the family, but not as much as you would normally expect".

The centre provides nursing, practical and emotional care and support for young children with life-limiting illnesses and their families. The care facility also provides "short breaks for the kids at their hospice . just to give people [parents] a break".

There is no indication yet when Clarence will appear in court.

The mother was raised a Methodist, said her friend.

The Christian ichthys symbol, a fish, is displayed on the back of one of the couple's cars, a black Audi SUV, parked at their home.

Next to the car are tributes from friends and neighbours. One reads: "Is this not an alarm bell for all of us. We need to be more mental health aware. Sadly, we had to lose three angels to see it. RIP angels. Shine down from heaven and light up the starry sky."

Neighbour Joy Devis told The Telegraph: "They were good parents. I worked as a nurse and midwife with families and disabled children for years and there was nothing about them to worry anyone. They seemed very happy."

Durban resident Cara Reilly, whose daughter Leigh died of spinal muscular atrophy, said: "It's not right to have three children like that. I feel for her. I can't imagine it."

Another UK neighbour, Michele Bacchus, told SkyNews that two "very, very upset" women had asked to use her toilet an hour after four police cars and an ambulance had arrived at the house. The women, one in her 30s and the other in her 50s, said they were relatives of the Clarence family and had come from Surrey.

Tania Clarence was a graphic designer before she became a full-time carer to her four children.

Gary Clarence completed an MBA in The Netherlands, having earlier attained a law degree at Stellenbosch University. He has worked for Investec for 15 years. He worked in the US for a brief stint and then for the bank in London since 2004. He is a keen golf player.

Investec released a statement saying: "Gary Clarence is a valued colleague and has worked with us for many years. We do not know the facts at this time but our thoughts are with the Clarence family. We are doing all that we can to help Gary and his eldest child."

In London, Superintendent Glenn Tunstall said the investigation was at "a very early stage" but police were "not looking at further suspects". - Additional reporting by Katharine Child

 

How little one suffer

KATHARINE CHILD

Spinal Muscular Atrophy is a genetic disorder that is passed down to children when both parents carry the recessive gene.

One in every four children with parents who are carriers will be born with SMA, that is characterised by weak muscles, difficulty breathing and shorter life spans.

Type 1 is the most severe and most children die by the time they are two.

Children with type 2 SMA can live to adulthood but may struggle with breathing. Most will never walk. They are intellectually normal – trapped in a very weak body”.

The Clarence's had three children with the disease, diagnosed in early childhood. At least one of the three was in a wheelchair.  

Durban resident Cara Reilly gave birth to Leigh in 2005. She was diagnosed type 1 spinal muscular atrophy, the severe form of spinal muscular atrophy.

When Leigh was 19 months, the doctor gave Cara Reilly and her husband a choice. “Put your child on oxygen, keep in a hospital and wait for her to die from organ failure or let her die naturally".

Reilly said: “We felt it was inhuman to leave a little girl on oxygen stuck in hospital for years waiting to die, while unable to move or breathe on her own.

“She was a very social child. She loved going out.”

Reilly said it was difficult to watch children with the illness degenerate.

"Every movement they make is painful."

O'Reilly and her husband later adopted a child and aborted a foetus that tested positive for the disease.

“I couldn't go through that again.

“The children suffer right to the end.”

She added: “It is not just a sick child. It is an entire world. You get exposed to people who stare and ask difficult questions”.

Reilly said that despite research to find a cure or even medication for the genetic degenerative disease, none was available.

Before he was US president, Barack Obama was patron of Families with SMA, a research foundation trying to find a cure.

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