Yorkshire community creates ‘circle of love’ ten years on after children were murdered by their father

Claire Throssell, from Penistone, near Barnsley, organises a charitable fun run each year to remember her sons Jack and Paul, who died aged 12 and nine.

This year’s event was particularly poignant as it's the 10-year anniversary of their death this October.

Her sons were lured into their father’s attic during a custody visit with the promise of a train set. Instead their father set fire to the house, killing them all.

Claire said: “When the boys died the community came together to surround me with a circle of love which is still here. You can feel it. It’s about remembering them as they lived, not as they died.”

Claire has been overwhelmed by the “incredible” support each year with Jack and Paul's friends, now in their late teens, turning up to run in memory of their friends.

She said: “It’s bittersweet but it’s incredible.”

Since the boys’ brutal murder, Claire has become a prominent domestic abuse campaigner fighting for the rights of victims, and founded the Child First Campaign with Women's Aid.

Claire is on a mission to put ‘children first and foremost’ in family court decisions.

She wants to change part of the courts work so that children have more of a say in custody arrangements and for family courts to be more vigorous in establishing whether a child may be at risk from a parent or guardian, and is fighting to get a petition to 100,000 signatures so the issue can be debated again in parliament.

She said: “We’re nearly at 100,000 signatures. This isn’t just about protecting children in our community. It’s for children everywhere.

“There's a huge cry about parental rights but a deafening silence about children’s rights. No child should have to say to a fireman or a policeman “my dad did this and he did it on purpose” as Jack did. No child’s last words should be taken as a testimony from a police officer.”

Claire currently is over 95 per cent of the way to her goal of 100,000 signatures.

She said: “For the past nine years, I’ve been campaigning with Women’s Aid to ensure children are at the heart of every decision made in the family courts and their voices, wishes and feelings are heard.

“I’ve been to Downing Street and the Houses of Parliament to help get key changes through in the Domestic Abuse Act. In 2017, we saw new guidance published for judges making decisions about child contact in cases of domestic abuse.

“And in 2020, the Government committed to make the family courts safer for adult and child survivors. But years later, we’re still waiting for true reform to keep children safe now and for generations to come.

“That’s why I’m calling on the Government and family courts to ensure, once and for all, that decisions made about parental contact do not allow known abusers to have unsafe contact with children that puts their lives at risk.”

To sign the petition, visit: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/child-first-safe-child-contact-saves-lives