Two plead guilty to murders of Brothers

A woman and a man have pleaded guilty to the murders of two brothers in Shiregreen, Sheffield.

Sarah Barrass, 35, of Gregg House Road, and Brandon Machin, 39, of Burngreave Road, admitted the murder of Blake Barrass, 14, and his brother Tristan, 13 at Sheffield Crown Court.

The defendants both pleaded guilty to two counts of murder, five counts of attempted murder and one count of conspiracy to murder relating to Blake and Tristan along with four other children in the family, all aged under 13, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

The Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson QC, said: “No words of mine can ever fully reflect the enormity of what you have both done. The crimes you have committed, quite frankly, speak for themselves.

“The murder of two children, the attempted murder of four children and the overarching conspiracy to murder those children - I repeat, those crimes speak for themselves.

“I have little doubt that each of you will, in due course, be sentenced to several terms of life imprisonment. This may well be a case - but it’s a matter for the judge - where a whole life order is imposed.”

The hearing follows an incident at a house on Gregg House Road, Shiregreen, in May this year.

Barrass, the mother of the children, and Machin were both remanded in custody ahead of sentencing, which has been set for 12 November.