Claire Throssell case raised in Parliament in bid to change family courts
Family courts need to be better at protecting children - that's the claim from Penistone and Stocksbridge MP today
A Penistone mum whose two boys were killed in a fire started by their dad is using her story to lobby for a change in the law - to protect other families affected by domestic abuse.
Claire Throssell's ex-husband had unsupervised access to Jack and Paul - who were just 12 and nine years old - despite her repeatedly raising concerns about his abusive past.
In 2014, he lured them to the attic of his house before setting fire to it.
Today, Penistone and Stocksbridge MP Angela Smith will raise the case in Parliament as she calls for the family courts to be given more powers to protect children and survivors of domestic abuse.
Angela says something needs to change as a result of the tragedy:
"The impact of what has happened is with her for the rest of her life I think as an MP it's my duty to try and help Claire achieve her ambition of getting the way in which family law courts work changed so that we put children first in future.
"It's the ongoing failure of the family law courts to recognise the true impact of domestic abuse on children and the need for the family law court to start developing a true understanding of what domestic abuse is - what it's impacts are."
The debate in Parliament comes after Women's Aid launched its Child First campaign, alongside a report detailing the deaths of 19 children all killed by fathers known to have a history of abuse.
Angela says the current system is putting children's lives at risk:
"There is an assumption that men who abuse their partners can at the same time be good fathers. We have cases documented of men who have known histories of domestic violence but have gone on to be awarded contact with their children - who have then gone on to harm those children.
"This is the worst case I think I've ever had to respond to as an MP in the 11 and a half years I've now been in Parliament. We have to try and get something positive out of this - Claire wants to do that."
This comes after Hallam reported earlier this week about how Claire's raising money for a new burns unit in memory of her children.
She told us she wants them to have a positive legacy:
"The last words we said to each other were when I dropped them off at school. I said 'love you'. Every day they'd respond 'to infinity and back'. And that love has never died and it never can.
"That friendship and care for those two little boys has kept going and is tangible now. And that's what keeps me going, and fighting for them to put things right that went wrong."