A woman has been sentenced to life for murdering her two young sons in their east London home in 2022.

Kara Alexander, 47, of Cornwallis Road, Dagenham was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 24 years in prison at Kingston Crown Court today (Friday, 11 April) for drowning her children.

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Waller of the Metropolitan Police, who led the investigation, said: "This is an incredibly tragic case, which has left a father without his two beloved boys and a family without two young brothers.

"Kara Alexander will spend the next two decades behind bars, where the memory of what she has done will haunt her forever.

"To the family and friends of Elijah and Marley, while no amount of time will erase the pain of such a loss, I hope this sentence serves to bring some semblance of justice.

"I hope you can now move on with your life, remembering the boys as you knew them, and treasuring the happy times you spent with them."

Emergency services were called at around 2pm on 16 December 2022, after the bodies of two young children were found by their father in their shared bunkbed inside their house in Dagenham.

Two-year-old Elijah Thomas and five-year-old Marley Thomas were both pronounced dead at the scene.

Following the discovery, their mother Kara Alexander ran from the house but was arrested nearby a short time later.

Post-mortem examinations identified drowning as the cause of death for both boys.

Detectives from the Met's Specialist Crime Command launched an investigation, reviewing footage from local CCTV cameras and doorbells and forensically analysing Alexander's phone.

Alexander was charged on 19 December 2022 with two counts of murder and was convicted at Kingston Crown Court on Friday, 21 February following a three-week trial.