'My two young boys were murdered by their DAD - I must keep my death bed promise'

The grief-stricken mum of two young lads murdered in cold blood by their abusive father is set to meet the on Monday and plead with him to change the laws to prevent such further deaths.

In doing so, Claire Throssell will be keeping a death bed promise she made to her 12-year-old son Jack. It was 10 years ago last month that devoted mum Claire, of Pensitone, Barnsley, learned her evil ex, Darren Sykes, lured their sons, Jack and Paul, nine, to their deaths in his home - as .

Keen athlete Paul died as smoke engulfed the attic his dad had barricaded off while talented musician Jack survived five more days and bravely whispered to his rescuing fire fighter, "My dad did this and he did it on purpose."

Since then, Claire, 52, has fought to change the law which presumes it is best practice for children to see both parents, even when one is known as a domestic abuser. "That, even in my case alone, is patently not true," says Claire. "My boys were the 18th and 19th children to die in the decade leading up to their murders. In the past two years, I know of at least 10 who have been killed by an abusive parent. I shudder to think what the new total is since my boys’ lives were taken and believe it could be as high as 40 over 10 years."

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Despite Claire asking legal channels that her ex be stopped seeing the boys after Paul told a teacher his dad, then 44, had hurt him, Sykes was allowed an unsupervised visit - leading to their deaths. Now, as part of her campaign Child First, Safe Child Contacts Saves Lives, she wants family courts to change visiting rights if it is known that a parent is a known abuser.

On Monday afternoon, Claire will walk up Downing Street carrying a photo of her sons along with a petition she hopes will be raised in Parliament: "I want to look the PM in the eyes and say to him, 'Walk in my shoes and then tell me the current law protects children. You know it does not so please change it for all the Jacks and Pauls out there now.' Starmer has a chance to keep future generations safe, give them a voice simply by changing present laws.’"

When the ran an in-depth interview with Claire in July this year, she was 4,000 signatures short of the 100,000 needed to get her petition debated in Parliament. Thanks to your readers we are now well over 104,000 so our petition has to be dealt with. "The UK media’s unfailing support alongside all its readers and all the people who signed my petition are helping in my campaign," says Claire.

"As Jack’s life ebbed away, I whispered to him that I would fight to prevent other children going through what they had. It is a pledge I am keeping. The PM is a father to two children and he knows the present laws do not put children’s interests first. One child's death at the hands of a violent family member is one too much. Along with supporters from the marvellous Women’s Aid charity, we now hope to get the PM and Government on board. I am doing this for my sons and for all the Jack and Pauls out there - I am their voice."

• To sign Claire’s petition, please go to

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