Mother jailed for life for murdering daughters who 'got in the way' of sex life

Louise Porton was found guilty on Thursday of killing three-year-old Lexi Draper and 17-month-old Scarlett Vaughan, less than three weeks apart, last year.

A jury at Birmingham Crown Court convicted her of both murders following a five-week trial.

Jailing Porton on Friday, Mrs Justice Yip described her actions as "evil" and "calculated", and told her: "These were blameless young children who were plainly vulnerable and ought to have been able to rely on their mother to protect and nurture them.

"Instead you took their young lives away."

Porton, who described herself to male suitors as a "model", accepted 41 friend requests on a dating app just a day after Lexi's death.

She was described as being "calm and emotionless" following Scarlett's death and delayed calling an ambulance for the youngster, even filling up with petrol as the toddler lay dead or dying in her car.

When Lexi was ill in hospital, just over a week before she died, Porton took topless photos in the toilets and was arranging to perform sex acts for money with a man she had met through a website.

Warwickshire Police said it was also "clear from the evidence" that callous Porton had tried to kill her three-year-old twice before, in early January 2018, before eventually succeeding.

At the time, she used her Google account to search for "Why did my 3 year(-old) stop breathing", and "How long after drowning can someone be resuscitated?"

The 23-year-old, of Skiddaw, Rugby, Warwickshire, suffocated Lexi in the early hours of January 15 last year and was then heard "laughing" at a funeral parlour two days before killing Scarlett just over two weeks later, on February 1.

The girls' father, Chris Draper, who never had the chance to meet Scarlett, said he felt "broken", with "nothing to live for".

In a victim impact statement read to court by the prosecution, he said: "Why did Louise do something so evil to our beautiful daughters?

"You are their mother, the person supposed to care for them, protect and love them.

"They were just an inconvenience to you; how could you do this?"

Porton sat in the dock throughout the hearing, with her head resting on her hands, looking down at her feet.

Mr Draper added: "I sit and think, day and night, and I can't understand why my two little girls were taken away because Louise wanted to sleep around.

"Maybe if social services had listened to me, my girls would still be alive today."

Mr Draper, who was in court for sentencing, said: "I hate Louise.

"No punishment will ever be enough, as I will never get my daughters back."

By Richard Vernalls, PA