A 37-year-old man and a 34-year-old woman have been arrested and charged over ‘poison’ deaths of two teenage boys, 13 and 14 at a house in Sheffield on Friday morning
In a statement released on Sunday, South Yorkshire police said the two people arrested from the house in Shiregreen have now been charged and will appear at Sheffield Magistrates Court tomorrow.
The boys, aged 13 and 14, died after they were taken to hospital, suspected to have been poisoned, on Friday morning. Four other children, aged 11, 10, three and seven months who cannot be named for legal reasons, were released from hospital on Saturday afternoon.
It was also reported that the children, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, were being cared for by social services.
Reports speculated that they had been poisoned, but detectives have not confirmed any circumstances on either that or the charges levied against the arrested parties.
It was claimed the 13 and 14-year-old boys sent a message from a Nintendo Switch console to a friend saying they were ‘feeling sick’ at 7am – half an hour before police were called to their house.
A neighbour said the boys messaged their friend saying: ‘We’re not coming to school today because we’re feeling sick.’
The children’s mother also reportedly told friends her children were sick hours before her sons died.
According to Daily Mail, Police were called to the property in the Shiregreen area in the north of the city at around 7.30am on Friday. Up to 15 police cars, two riot vans and four ambulances descended on the home, while the air ambulance landed at a nearby primary school.
Superintendent Paul McCurry, of South Yorkshire Police, said they were alerted after an ‘independent call for assistance’.
Tearful school children have been bringing brought flowers, balloons and teddy bears to the scene to pay their last respect to the victims.
