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Man found guilty of murdering son, daughter

A father has been found guilty of murdering his two young children who he smothered with a petrol-soaked rag before setting fire to the family…

A father has been found guilty of murdering his two young children who he smothered with a petrol-soaked rag before setting fire to the family home.

Saros Endris, eight, and his sister Leanor, six, were found dead at their house in Holland Road, Birmingham, in October 2016.

Their father Endris Mohammed, 47, also tried to kill his wife by attempting to cause a gas explosion.

The taxi driver was found guilty by a jury at Birmingham Crown Court.

A two-week trial was told Mohammed appeared normal in the run-up to the deaths.

He was found guilty of two counts of murder and one of attempted murder after the jury deliberated for under 30 minutes.

Mohammed had denied the murders, claiming diminished responsibility allegedly caused by a depressive disorder. He will be sentenced on Monday.

Trial judge Mr Justice Gilbart, addressing the jurors after the verdicts, told them: “You’ve just dealt with a very important case.

“It’s an important public service. You’ve earned the thanks of the public for the vital work you’ve done.”

Penil Teklehaimanot, Mohammed’s wife, said in her evidence that she was woken by a smoke alarm and initially thought her children were asleep when she was unable to wake them.

“When I saw the fire I was scared and screamed,” she said.

Mrs Teklehaimanot said the pair met in 2006 in Kent, after they both came to Britain from East Africa as asylum seekers.

She told the court he was a “gentle, quiet man” and his personality had not changed in any way since 2006.

Mohammed did not give evidence during his defence case but argued through his legal team that he was depressed about his future amid money worries.

Jurors heard Mohammed, who was an Uber driver, claimed he had decided to end his own life because his “hopes for a good life in England” had failed.

He told police in a statement handed to officers in January that he had no money.

Mrs Teklehaimanot told the court she was not in debt and that the couple’s rent payments were not in arrears.

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