A mother who drowned her two young sons in the bath has been sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum term of more than 21 years.
Kara Alexander, 47, killed Elijah Thomas, two, and Marley Thomas, five, at their home in Dagenham, east London, in December 2022.
A jury at Kingston Crown Court had previously found her guilty of two counts of murder, charges she denied.
A post-mortem determined they died as a result of drowning or suffocation.
Kara Alexander
Met Police
At trial, she claimed that their deaths were accidental after she placed them in the bath and fell asleep.
Selvin Thomas, the boys' father, was due to have them that weekend but became increasingly concerned when he did not hear back from the 47-year-old.
When he arrived at her home on Cornwallis Road, she told him that his sons were upstairs sleeping.
He sprinted ran to the boys' bedroom and found their bodies lying side-by-side on their lower bunk bed.
Prosecutor Philip Evans KC said: "They were bunched up together and it looked like they were asleep.
"They had the duvet up to their shoulders, only their faces were visible. He touched Marley’s face, on his right cheek, and he was freezing cold and hard.
"He knew immediately that they were dead."