Thirty years for father who killed children

A father who killed his two children by cutting their throats while they lay in bed as an act of revenge against his estranged wife was told yesterday that he would serve a minimum of 30 years in prison.

Jean Say, 62, a retired concierge originally from Ivory Coast, was facing eviction as a result of bitter separation from his wife Antoinette and killed the couple's children while they were on a weekend visit to his London flat.

After Say killed daughter Regina, eight, and son Rolls, 10, he rang his wife to say: "I have killed your children. Come and get the bodies."

There were signs that the children were awake and had tried to ward off their father during the attack, the court heard yesterday.

Sentencing him to life, Mr Justice Cooke told Say: "You decided to take revenge on your wife, who you blamed for the misfortune you had brought about."

In a statement to the court, Mrs Say said: "I cannot shop in a supermarket without seeing the children run to their favourite aisles, Rolls to the Belgium Chocolate and Regina to the Jammie Dodgers. Simple moments we shared of which so many of us take for granted, I will treasure them forever."

"The only thing I have left is my memories and the little comfort I have knowing that Rolls and Regina are at peace and no longer able to feel the pain. Jean Say destroyed so much."