Derrylin: Children's murders 'could not have been anticipated'

The murders of two children in their own home "could not have been anticipated", a case review has found.

Daniel Sebastian Allen, 33, was sentenced to a minimum of 29 years last month for killing three generations of the same family.

Denise Gossett, 45, her son Roman, 16, his sister Sabrina, 19, and Sabrina's 15-month-old daughter Morgana Quinn died in February 2018.

Their bodies were found in a burnt-out cottage in Derrylin, County Fermanagh.

The family, who were described as living an itinerant existence, had come to the attention of social services in the days before their deaths.

A case management review was carried out by the Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland (SBNI), which brings together the agencies responsible for protecting children and young people.

It concluded that while "the tragic deaths of Roman and Morgana could not have been anticipated, it did identify learning for professionals working in similar circumstances with vulnerable families."

The SBNI is made up of organisations from the statutory, community and voluntary sectors, including the Police Service of Northern Ireland and health and social care trusts.

The board said it was "deeply shocked and saddened at the horrific murders of Roman and Morgana Gossett".

It said they were "defenceless children who should have been safe in their own home".

Allen pleaded guilty to murdering the three youngest victims and to the manslaughter of his partner Denise by reason of a suicide pact.

He initially lived with the family in Scotland.

They moved to Ireland, first to Tralee and then to Cavan, before renting the property in Derrylin where they had lived for 14 months before the fire.

Distressing details of the circumstances of their deaths were revealed during a sentencing hearing.

The court heard that Roman Gossett and Morgana Quinn died from GHB poisoning, a drug which has a sedative and anaesthetic effect.

Allen claimed he strangled Sabrina but there was no evidence to prove this and her cause of death could not be ascertained.

Denise Gossett was still alive when the fire started and died from smoke inhalation.

Her body was found handcuffed to a bed.

The SBNI is notified whenever there is a death of a child known to statutory services.

It then considers whether a review should be carried out to identify and assess whether there are lessons to be learned from the handling of a case.

The board told BBC News NI a case management review of the Derrylin fire was conducted by an independent reviewer and completed in September 2019.

It said the findings were shared with its member agencies and all of the recommendations were accepted and subsequently acted upon.

The SBNI said: "For these lessons to be learned as widely and thoroughly as possible, professionals need to be able to understand fully what happened in each child's case, and most importantly, what needs to change in order to reduce the risk of such incidents happening in the future".

For this reason, the SBNI says the case management review is a confidential learning process.

The safeguarding board said it welcomed the outcome of the criminal proceedings and the justice it has provided for Roman and Morgana and their mothers, and it offered its condolences to the wider family circle.