Husband says estranged wife drowned 2-year-old twins in 27 minutes for revenge: 'She knew it would be the ultimate punishment'
MARGATE, UK: The husband of 38-year-old Samantha Ford, who killed her 23-month-old twins Jake and Chloe on December 27 last year, revealed his wife drowned the twins within 27 minutes as an act of revenge, according to reports.
Steven Ford, on Friday, told the Old Bailey that his wife had deliberately taken the lives of their "terrified, confused" children because they had split after giving up a lavish expat life in Qatar, and she believed this was apt revenge.
Steven said Samantha had not wanted to leave Qatar for "s***hole" Margate and was "emotionally controlling." A few hours after killing her children, she reportedly drove into the back of a lorry without wearing her seatbelt and crashed. After the incident, she told officers: "Just let me die, I killed my babies. I would never hurt them, they are my miracle babies."
Steven gave an emotional victim impact statement to the court on Friday, saying: "This was the most heinous, spiteful act on two innocent children." He added, "I have no doubt she did this with the intention of taking her own life and punishing me in the process."
"I know how she behaves when things don't go her way... it's an extreme version of her character. Knowing how much I loved the children she knew it would be the ultimate punishment for me not going back to her," he added. Samantha had previously admitted to two counts of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility and is scheduled to be sentenced at the Old Bailey later Friday, according to the Daily Mail.
After the crash, Samantha also told officers, "This is all a dream. I should have gone to the hospital sooner. He's messing with my head," the court heard. The mother said she had "put them in the bath" and urged officers to check her home in Westwood.
The officers rushed to the house to discover two unresponsive children laying dressed in their beds. Prosecutor Tom Kark (Queen's Counsel), during the hearing, said the officers attempted to resuscitate them, but "that was sadly a hopeless exercise." Samantha had reportedly scrawled a note on the table, saying: "Please forgive my crazy mind."
She had reportedly sent a message on Christmas day to someone, saying: "I just need to end. I just need something to strike him to make him know what he's doing."
The prosecutor said: "This is a tragic and, in some respects, complex case. On the night of December 27 last year, the defendant killed her twin children Jake and Chloe Ford. They were aged 23 months, and she killed them, it would appear, by drowning them in the bath at the family home in Margate."
"The defendant was charged with murder and on May 28 she entered pleas of not guilty to two counts of murder, but guilty to the offense of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility. For reasons the court is aware of those pleas were eventually accepted by the prosecution," he added.