Staffordshire PoliceA mother searched online for information on overdoses and prison sentences for murder on the day she killed her children, an inquest has heard.
Veronique John carried out the searches on the morning of 11 June 2023, hours before she called police to report she had killed daughter Elizabeth, seven, and son Ethan, 11, at the family home in Stoke-on-Trent.
The inquest previously heard she had just been released from custody after attacking her husband. Consultant psychiatrist Dr Gillian Bennett told Wednesday’s hearing Mrs John had not met the threshold of insanity at the time.
Mrs John was detained indefinitely at a secure hospital last year.
Dr Bennett said after Mrs John attacked her husband she admitted to police what she had done which indicated she did understand the nature of the acts and they were wrong.
Ethan John was stabbed 21 times while his sister was also knifed and left with a fatal brain injury.
Mr John reported on 9 June he had been attacked. Police saw him with injuries on 10 June and took Mrs John into custody, releasing her early on 11 June.
The hearing at Stoke’s Civic Centre also heard a domestic violence protection notice would have prevented Mrs John returning to the family’s Flax Street home for 48 hours, but a community resolution notice was issued.
Staffordshire PoliceAn assessment in custody concluded she did not have signs of acute or enduring mental health conditions, but in later months, she was diagnosed with complex post-traumatic stress disorder and a personality disorder and deemed not fit to plead in court.
Medical records showed Mrs John had previously been prescribed antidepressants, and from 2012 had experienced a miscarriage, stillbirth, her mother’s death and domestic abuse from a former partner in the Caribbean.
She was referred to a psychiatrist seven years before the children’s deaths and previously tried to end her life.
On 11 June, Mr John informed her he would not be returning to live with her, the inquest heard.
After the murders, she could not recall what had happened. She said she had not slept for four days beforehand.
Insp Bruce Wilkinson said he decided to issue a community resolution notice, which meant she was able to return to the family home.
He had been unaware at the time of allegations Mrs John had previously harassed her husband, or evidence could have been found on his phone, he said.
He had been aware of Mr John’s injuries on 10 June.
According to police guidance, a community resolution notice should not have been issued in a domestic violence case involving people who had been in an intimate relationship.
Insp Wilkinson said he later realised he applied that in error.
He said: “I certainly did not think there was physical risk to the children”.
The inquest continues.
