Mum accused of killing two daughters because they “got in the way”

A 23-year-old woman has been accused of murdered her two daughters because she was soliciting sex for cash and they were getting in the way of her "lifestyle".

Louise Porton is accused of killing three-year-old Lexi Draper and 16-month old Scarlett Vaughan, by obstructing their airways.

The two little girls died within just 18 days of each other.

Lexi was found dead at home on January 15 last year after reports she was unconscious.

On February 1, her baby sister Scarlett passed away after falling ill and being rushed to hospital.

The young mum, from Warwickshire, is now on trial accused of two counts of murder at Birmingham Crown Court.

The court heard that the two girls had died from an “airway obstruction” after their mother “deliberately interfered with their breathing.”

It was claimed that Louise would often leave them alone and did whatever she could do avoid having to look after them.

The court heard that she was soliciting sex online and on one occasion she even discussed sending explicit images to a man in return for cash while she was in hospital with seriously ill Lexi.

An examination of her phone records revealed searches such as “Can you actually die if blocked nose and forcibly closed mouth with tape,” and “For how long after drowning can someone be resuscitated?”

Following the death of her older daughter, paramedics who attended the scene said she was “particularly unemotional and detached.”

Doctors couldn’t find any reason why either child could have died from natural causes, and Scarlett was found to have had bleeding in the neck tissue which suggested “some sort of neck compression.”

Louise Porton denies the charges, and the trial, which is expected to last three weeks, continues.