The Incestuous Couple Who Murdered Their Children
By: Jacob Wilkins
Tags: Domestic Violence, True Crime, Murder, Family, Crime

Though social services were unaware of these threats, the reports from Martyn and the children’s poor behaviour at school made them deeply suspicious.

Indeed, Sarah knew social services were closing in — it was only a matter of time before the children would be taken away. She also knew that with increased scrutiny from social services, her incestuous relationship was likely to be exposed.

The combination of these two factors pushed Sarah over the edge. And from her perspective, murdering her children and committing suicide was better than losing her children and being shamed for her incestuous relationship.

The murders

On the 23rd of May 2019, Sarah and Brandon collected a bunch of medication from around the house and forced their children to consume it. They hoped the drugs would make them overdose during the night.

But the plan didn’t work — the kids were still alive the following day. So, at seven o’clock in the morning, Sarah started researching other methods of killing via the internet. Soon after, she and Brandon decided that suffocation was their best option.

Using the cord of her dressing gown, Sarah strangled thirteen-year-old Tristen whilst Brandon used his bare hands to strangle fourteen-year-old Blake. When both of them were unconscious, Sarah and Brandon finished the job by wrapping bin bags around the boys’ heads.

Though they had every intention of murdering the other four kids as well (who, for legal reasons, haven’t been named), no one else was killed.

After trying and failing to drown one of the surviving children in the bath, Sarah lost her head completely and changed the plan. Originally, Brandon was supposed to ‘discover’ all seven of the bodies once the children were dead and Sarah had committed suicide.

Instead, Sarah barricaded herself in her bedroom with the four surviving kids and attempted to frame her half-brother. She left a note on her phone saying she loved her children and that Brandon was trying to kill them. Sarah then sent a text message to a friend: ‘He’s trying to kill us and Tristan and Blake are already dead.’

During this time, she also contacted the police. And when the officers arrived, Sarah repeated her lies in the hope of avoiding prison. But her story was immediately undermined by the surviving children who revealed the truth to the police.

After years of neglect, they had no desire to go along with their mother’s pathetic attempts to escape justice.

Trial and sentence

Sarah and Brandon’s trial took place at Sheffield Crown Court in November 2019. They were tried for murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy to murder.

The forensic evidence, the surviving children’s testimonies, Sarah’s internet history, and Martyn’s frequent reports to social services meant that no one had any doubts about the truth.

Though Brandon was also found guilty, Mr. Justice Goss (the judge) believed Sarah was the primary instigator. He said the fear of being parted from her children had made her think she was entitled to take their lives as well as her own.

Both Sarah Barrass and Brandon Machin received life imprisonments with a minimum of thirty-five years.

Sources: