A MOTHER whose two sons were killed in a house fire started by their father met the Prime Minister yesterday.
Claire Throssell was a guest at 10 Downing Street as part of her campaign for new legislation to protect children from abusive parents.
Her two sons, Jack and Paul, 12 and nine, died after their father Darren Sykes set fire to the former family home on Tennyson Close, Penistone, in October 2014. Sykes also died in the blaze.
Since then, Claire has thrown herself into campaigning. She has fronted the Women’s Aid Child First campaign and lobbied for changes to the laws surrounding children in family courts.
She is hopeful of a change in the law, but last month Mrs May said consultation would have to take place before new legislation could be brought forward.
Claire has previously given an impassioned speech in the House of Commons imploring MPs to take on board new legislation.
Writing about yesterday’s meeting on her Facebook page, Pray for Jack, Claire said: “Jack - sweet boy, you battled for five days (after the fire) and now I battle to ensure that no more families are ripped apart leaving parents torn and broken like me.
“I was the voice for all the children whose voices are not being heard, an advocate for those who are currently suffering in silence and isolation. Love can give you strength that you never know you have, and the love you have for your children is the greatest love of all.”
A spokeswoman for Women’s Aid said: “The Prime Minister is hosting an International Women’s Day reception at Number 10 and has invited people from the sector, such as includes Women’s Aid, and survivors, including Claire. The theme, we understand, is on domestic abuse.
“The government has launched the consultation on the domestic abuse bill.”
In addition, Claire has been named on Amnesty International’s Suffragette Spirit Map of women human rights defenders.
The map marks 100 years since some British women won the right to vote and the charity has scoured the country to make a list of women who are still standing up for human rights.
The Suffragette Spirit project is part of its global BRAVE campaign which calls for increased recognition and protection of human rights defenders.
Claire had separated from Sykes before the fire and had warned authorities he could harm the children, or even kill them.
She told social workers and officers from the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service that Sykes was a bully and controlling, and had ‘physically chastised’ the children who were scared of him.
But he was still allowed unsupervised access. Although a serious case review into the tragedy found none of the agencies had fundamentally failed in their duty, areas were identified where lessons could have been learned.
Claire has now moved into a new home after the community rallied around to raise thousands of pounds to renovate the house so it could be sold.
