THE mother of two boys who were killed in a house fire started by their father is up for a Yorkshire Women of Achievement award.
Claire Throssell’s sons Jack and Paul, 12 and nine, were killed in October 2014 when their father Darren locked them in the attic at his home with pools of petrol burning below.
The couple had previously separated.
Since then, Claire, 46, of Penistone, has campaigned for changes to the laws surrounding children in family courts.
She has now been shortlisted for the Jane Tomlinson Award for Courage at the Sue Ryder Yorkshire Women of Achievement Awards which will take place in Leeds today.
Previous winners at the awards have included Sally Wainwright, The Calendar Girls and murdered MP Jo Cox.
Claire said it had been a difficult year; Jack would have turned 16 in March and would have been doing his GCSEs and leaving school this summer.
“I feel quite emotional to be honest, if people hadn’t done what they did for me, I wouldn’t be able to do what I have done and stand up and collect awards. I feel like it’s all thanks to everyone around me - people that have given me strength and been a shoulder to cry on. If it wasn’t for those people I wouldn’t be here now.
“Jack was 16 in March and would have been doing his GCSEs now, then there would have been a prom. That part doesn’t get any easier.
“When you lose a grandmother, for example, even though it is painful, it is the right way because they have lived their life. With Jack and Paul, it’s always ‘what if?’”
Claire recently met with Prime Minister Theresa May on International Women’s Day and said she seemed genuinely moved by her story.
“She had a tear in her eye, which surprised me. But I do believe she is behind the cause of tackling domestic abuse.
“The domestic abuse bill consultation ends on May 31, it will then go to the lawyers and hopefully go through parliament later this year.
“Angela Smith MP has been pushing it and there are a few ministers cross-party who want it through.
“There are some huge changes coming in; it’s now against the law for people to withhold finances from a partner. It’s something which has never been done before. But it’s the main stumbling block for leaving an abusive relationship.”
Claire says she often wonders about what Jack and Paul would think of her campaigning.
She added: “I put my hand on their stone and I say ‘I’m trying’. One day I would like to be able to say ‘I’ve done it’, to go and tell them that children are not living in fear and will have a life.”
