Stoke-on-Trent dad’s world ‘upside down’ after wife killed kids

The father of two children stabbed to death by their mother says his world was turned upside down by their deaths, an inquest has heard.

Veronique John killed her daughter Elizabeth, seven, and son Ethan, 11, at the family’s home in Stoke-on-Trent on 11 June 2023. She was handed an indefinite hospital order in July 2024.

The inquest previously heard she had just been released from custody after attacking her husband Nathan John, as she had not met the threshold for insanity at the time.

During Thursday’s hearing, a statement from Mr John, read out by coroner Emma Serrano, paid tribute to Ethan’s friendly nature and Elizabeth’s “bright and bubbly” personality.

“On 11 June, my whole world was turned upside down,” he said. “I lost the two most important and precious persons in my life at once.

“Especially hurtful was the one person who meant to love them as much as I did, brutally and viciously took their lives. The true victims of this heinous crime cannot give a statement.

“I regretted I couldn’t do anything to prevent it happening. Words cannot describe the acts committed on that dark day – it’s horrific.”

He said Ethan had a smile which would “warm your heart”, and had started to “blossom” at school, wining a mathematician of the year certificate.

Elizabeth was treated like a princess, loved unicorns and was “obsessed” with the movie Frozen, Mr John said.

“She loved watching cartoons with her brother, during which they laughed together, and she was very loving and protective towards her brother,” he added.

Mr John had previously raised concerns that his wife would “use the children against him” and told police on 9 June she had assaulted him with a wooden bed slat and threatened to stab him.

She was arrested at home and taken into custody, where she said she slapped her husband but denied making any threats to kill, the inquest was told.

She was able to return home in the early hours of 11 June. Later that morning, she searched online for information on overdoses and prison sentences for murder, the inquest heard on Wednesday.

On the same day, Mr John had informed her he would not be returning to live with her, the inquest heard. He went to another address and his wife was left at home with the children.

She stabbed Ethan 21 times and Elizabeth was also knifed, leaving her with a fatal brain injury, before Mrs John called police to tell them what she had done.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Gillian Bennett previously told the inquest Mrs John had not met the threshold of insanity at the time she was in custody.

The inquest heard a domestic violence protection notice would have prevented Mrs John returning to the family’s Flax Street home for 48 hours but a community resolution notice was issued.

Insp Bruce Wilkinson, who issued the notice, said he was not aware at the time of allegations of Mrs John previously harassing her husband.

“I certainly did not think there was physical risk to the children,” he said.

The inquest heard that in the months following the assessment in custody, Mrs John was diagnosed with complex post-traumatic stress disorder and a personality disorder and deemed not fit to plead in court.

Medical records showed Mrs John had previously been prescribed antidepressants, and from 2012 had experienced a miscarriage, stillbirth, her mother’s death and domestic abuse from a former partner in the Caribbean.

She was referred to a psychiatrist seven years before the children’s deaths and had previously tried to end her life.

The inquest continues.