Cat Deeley was left speechless and visibly emotional on This Morning as a mother recounted an unimaginable tragedy — her ex-husband had abused her, and then heartlessly took the lives of their two young sons. But amid the darkness of the crime, a glimmer of courage still shone through. A small act of heroism, born in the most horrific of circumstances, was enough to break the hearts of everyone listening in the studio and watching at home.
The guest, Claire Throssell, lost her sons Jack, 12, and Paul, 9, in October 2014 after her ex-partner Darren Sykes, whom she had been with for sixteen years, lured the boys into the attic of their home before setting fourteen separate fires around the house. The tragedy came after years of coercive control and domestic abuse — a campaign of manipulation that slowly isolated Claire from her friends and family. Speaking through tears, she told Cat Deeley and co-host Ben Shephard that she had finally decided to write her story in a memoir titled For My Boys, a lasting testimony to her children and the courage they showed until their final moments.
As she sat in the studio, Claire’s voice wavered but her determination was clear. “There are books about weaning your children, books about bedtime routines, but not a single book that tells you how to live without your children,” she said quietly. She described how she had hesitated for years before deciding it was time to tell her story — not for herself, but for Jack and Paul. “They never got justice,” she continued. “When I’m not here to tell their story, the truth would be lost. This book is for them — a loving testimony so that people will remember who they were.” Cat Deeley, visibly moved, told her, “I don’t think anyone will judge you for this book. It’s one of the most heartbreaking things I’ve ever read.”
Claire went on to recount the years of control and psychological torment she suffered at Darren’s hands. “It started small,” she explained. “He was controlling, but he made it sound like love. If I said I was going out with friends, he’d say, ‘That’s a shame, I was going to do something special for you tonight.’ And then you stay home. After a while, your friends stop asking, and you become cut off from the world.” The manipulation escalated to the point where he dictated what she wore, even forcing her to return clothes and choose ones he approved of. The final straw came when he tried to hit their son Jack and Claire fell down the stairs in the struggle. That moment gave her the courage to leave — but even after she escaped, the abuse didn’t end. She described the aftermath as “separation abuse,” a cruel continuation of control through the children.
On the day of the fire, Claire recalled sensing something was wrong. She had given her boys mobile phones with a code word to signal danger, but when she returned home, both phones were on the table. “That was the moment I knew,” she said softly. “My mum told me, ‘It’s probably the boys back early,’ but deep down I felt it. When the police came to the door, the first words out of my mouth were, ‘What has he done?’” Blue lights flashed through the village streets as she was taken to Sheffield Hospital — but by then, it was too late.
Darren had set fires throughout the house using her belongings and several canisters of petrol. He locked the doors and barricaded the attic, trapping the boys inside by telling them there were new trains for their set. Then, in a final act of monstrous cruelty, he joined them in the attic. “Did he taunt them? Did he tell them what was coming?” Claire wondered aloud. “I’ll never know. But I do know that when the smoke came, Jack tried to save his brother. When Paul fell, overcome by the fumes, Jack went back for him.” Jack managed to reach the attic hatch but fell through the flames. When firefighters found him, he was still conscious — and his final words were: ‘My dad did this. He did it on purpose.’
Even as he lay dying, Jack was thinking of others — of his brother, of his mother, of the truth that needed to be told. “It was Jack’s hand, not mine, that Paul felt last,” Claire said, her voice breaking. “He believed he’d saved his brother, and I never told him otherwise. That was his courage — right until the end, he never thought of himself.” The studio fell silent as she spoke. It was that small, selfless act — a boy’s final attempt to protect his brother — that shattered every heart listening.
Ben Shephard noted that Claire has since devoted her life to campaigning for change in the law, so that no other child is put in harm’s way under court-ordered contact with an abusive parent. During her divorce, she had tried to tell the court she was afraid for her children, but her warnings went unheard. Darren was granted five hours of unsupervised visitation each week. “We were invisible,” she said. “Jack’s voice was only heard on that landing, when it was too late. But what he did — a lot of grown men wouldn’t have done. His bravery deserves to mean something.”
Claire is now an ambassador for Women’s Aid and IDAS (Independent Domestic Abuse Service) and has worked on the Domestic Abuse Bill to ensure children’s safety is prioritized in custody cases. The Ministry of Justice has since acknowledged her case, calling it “a horrendous crime,” and pledged to review policies surrounding parental involvement in cases with a risk of harm. As Cat Deeley wiped away tears, Claire’s words lingered — a mother’s grief, a child’s bravery, and a system’s failure all bound together in one devastating truth. Yet through her pain, Claire Throssell continues to turn tragedy into change, ensuring that Jack and Paul’s legacy will forever be one of love, courage, and the fight for justice.
