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| Endris Mohammed jailed for murdering his children | Endris Mohammed jailed for murdering his children |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A man who murdered his two young children by smothering them with a petrol-soaked rag has been sentenced to at least 33 years in jail. | A man who murdered his two young children by smothering them with a petrol-soaked rag has been sentenced to at least 33 years in jail. |
| Endris Mohammed, 47, was convicted of killing his son Saros and daughter Leanor Endris, aged eight and six, at their home in Birmingham last October. | Endris Mohammed, 47, was convicted of killing his son Saros and daughter Leanor Endris, aged eight and six, at their home in Birmingham last October. |
| He also tried to kill his wife in an attempted gas blast at the house, Birmingham Crown Court heard. | |
| He was also given a 10-year concurrent sentence for her attempted murder. | He was also given a 10-year concurrent sentence for her attempted murder. |
| On Friday, jurors took less than 30 minutes to find Mohammed guilty of the killings of his children and attempting to murder his wife, Penil Teklehaimanot. | |
| 'Cold-hearted' | |
| They had heard that after trying to blow up the house by tampering with a gas valve Mohammed, a taxi driver, had started a fire near the front door. | |
| His children Saros and Leanor Endris died from airway obstruction after suffering chemical burns to their faces, the court was told. | |
| On the night they were murdered, Mrs Teklehaimanot was woken by a smoke alarm at their home in Holland Road, Great Barr, but had thought her children were asleep. | |
| But, they had been killed by their father during a "sleepover" downstairs with him. | |
| Speaking after Mohammed's conviction, Mrs Teklehaimanot said the pain of losing her children was "indescribable". | |
| "There is no bigger pain in this world than this experience," she said. "I cannot comprehend how anyone could be so cold-hearted." | |
| The Uber driver claimed to have a depressive disorder, citing debts and failed hopes for "a good life in England". | |
| He murdered his children after deciding they "would be better off dead", the court heard. | |
| He was later found sitting in his car in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, with severe burns, after setting fire to himself. | |
| Police said Mohammed had no history of mental illness and contrary to claims of financial difficulties, his account was not overdrawn and Mrs Teklehaimanot was "bringing good money into the house". | |
| CCTV footage showed Mohammed buying a fuel can and three litres of petrol on 27 October 2016, the day before the murders. | |
| Det Insp Justin Spanner, from West Midlands Police, said "evidence of the pre-planning" made this "one of the worst cases I've dealt with". |