November 2019

Evil mum tried to kill kids over 48-hour period after plotting murder for 9 days

A mother-of-six who murdered her two teenage sons the day after a bid to poison them failed has been jailed

Sarah Barrass, along with family member Brandon Machin, strangled Tristan and Blake Barrass, aged 13 and 14, in Shiregreen, Sheffield, on 24 May.

A woman who strangled her two sons and attempted to poison four other children spent nine days plotting the murders.

Details of what happened in the Shiregreen, Sheffield, house of horrors, which have never been reported before can now be revealed.

The People has seen copies of indictments which describe in grim detail how Sarah Barrass and Brandon Machin repeatedly tried to kill her children over a 48-hour period after plotting murder for nine days.

Grieving Martyn Barrass tells the Sunday People how his sister Sarah and her co-killer Machin – a family member –  were drawn together by the gruesome and the macabre.

They gorged on horror movies, killed pet mice and eventually turned their brutality on Barrass’s innocent sons Tristan, 13, and Blake, 14.

The teenagers were strangled a day after a failed bid to poison them.

Barrass tried to poison four of the children the day before Tristan and Blake were strangled. An attempt to drown another child failed.

Police, medics and an air ambulance were scrambled to a grisly scene at 7.30am on May 24 and found the teenagers critically injured.

The boys later died in hospital 12 minutes apart.

The other four children, all under the age of 13 and who cannot be named for legal reasons, were taken to hospital and released later that day.

Barrass’ brother slammed her as an “evil psychopath” and revealed he warned officials a decade ago that the boys were in danger.

Martyn, 34, says the deaths could have been avoided if social services had acted on his warnings.

Mother-of-six Barrass, 35, and Machin, 37, are facing life in jail after pleading guilty to murdering the boys at home in Sheffield in May.

Martyn says: “Those two have been evil since birth. They are both as bad as each other, they are both murdering, evil psychopaths.”

“I witnessed Brandon’s violence towards Blake years ago and I knew something wasn’t right. I visited them when Tristan was still in his pushchair and Blake was only a toddler – he must have been three or four.

“We were out walking when Brandon grabbed Blake’s arm really roughly and dragged him across the floor.

“It was enough to know something wasn’t right, so I called social services and asked them to look into it. If they had, the boys might still be here today.

Martyn, who is a father of twins, claims he made three calls to social services, begging them to check on his nephews.

He says: “I had concerns, so I reported them to social services. It was 2009 or 2010 that I made complaints.

“It was three phone calls. I told them about the incident. I was told they would look into it, but I didn’t hear back from them. I feel like I was ignored.

“It felt like I wasn’t listened to. Our world has been ripped apart. I’ve lost my little nephews.”

Martyn recalls: “When I saw news of the murders on Facebook , it felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to my stomach. I instantly felt sick.

“I spoke to my mum and she said Sarah and Brandon had been arrested. The next day, she told me they had been charged. I was disgusted. There are no words for them.

“Blake and Tristan were polite, kind-hearted lads. It’s a tragic waste of life.”

The boys, pupils at Firth Park Academy, loved motorcycles and cars – and 300 bikers and two Lamborghinis led a funeral cortege.

Martyn, who lives in Wirral, Merseyside, tells how he grew up being tormented by his sister and Machin.

In one dark memory, he recalls the pair killing pet mice for entertainment.

He explains: “They loved killing things and inflicting pain. We had mice, tiny little black and white things. One day I heard my sister, Donna – who has since died – screaming and crying.

“I walked in and Brandon and Sarah were laughing, chasing the mice – stamping on them, killing them. I tried to push them away but they were too strong.

“They were falling over laughing while we were in floods of tears looking at the little bodies on the floor. Another time we were playing and Sarah shoved a girl out of a tree.

“She pushed her really hard and the girl screamed as she hit the floor, badly hurting her arm.

“Sarah just stood over her laughing “she thought it was really funny. I knew from when they killed the mice that they were evil.

“I knew Sarah wasn’t normal when she laughed after pushing the girl from the tree. I knew Brandon was capable of murder and I knew she was. But I never thought she’d kill her own kids.”

Martyn is one of eight siblings – by four fathers – who were raised by a single mum in Sheffield.

They spent time in care before being returned home.

He goes on: “It was chaotic, there were always people in and out, drinking, smoking weed. We could go to bed when we wanted, get up when we wanted, not go to school.”

Martyn says Barrass was a quiet, shy sister and protective of her siblings until falling under the influence of Machin.

He says: “Once her and Brandon got close, she changed. She became a bully. As soon as he came, there was a bond.

“They would always be together and were thick as thieves. Brandon once beat someone up at school for no reason – just to impress Sarah.

“Brandon would torment me. One day at the park Brandon called me over, turned me upside down and rammed me head first into the floor.

“He terrified me. He was violent and would punch people for no reason and get into fights. Sarah was his sidekick, they were always whispering together.”

In the months before the murders, Sarah posted a Facebook quote from horror writer Stephen King that said: “Murder is like potato chips; you can’t stop with just one.”

She also uploaded a chilling image of the Grim Reaper with the caption “coming for you…” 

Martyn reveals how she and Machin “loved horror movies with vampires, blood and gore”, adding: “They liked violent killer Freddy Krueger and repeatedly watched A Nightmare on Elm Street.”

Barrass and Machin admitted two counts of murder, five of attempted murder and one of conspiracy to murder when they appeared at Sheffield Crown Court on September 27. They will be sentenced on November 12.

September 2019

Shiregreen child murders: Sarah Barrass pleads guilty to killing two sons

A mother has admitted the murder of her two teenage sons and hatching a plot to kill four more of her children.

Sarah Barrass, 35, killed Tristan and Blake Barrass, aged 13 and 14, at a house in Shiregreen, Sheffield, on 24 May.

Family member Brandon Machin, 39, also pleaded guilty to their murder.

At Sheffield Crown Court, both admitted a further charge of conspiracy to murder six children, including Tristan and Blake.

Judge Jeremy Richardson QC warned both defendants they could be sentenced to spend the rest of their lives behind bars.

“No words of mine can ever fully reflect the enormity of what you have both done,” he said.

“The crimes you have committed quite frankly speak for themselves.”

He told both he had “little doubt” they would be sentenced to “several terms of life imprisonment”.

“This may well be a case… where a whole life order is imposed,” he added.

Barrass, of Gregg House Road, Sheffield, also pleaded guilty to five counts of attempted murder against four children.

The charges relate to both of the murdered boys and two of their siblings.

Her four surviving children cannot be named for legal reasons

No details were given in court about how the children died or what happened in the house in the days before the deaths on 24 May.

The judge said the full case would be heard at sentencing on 12 November.

The charges of conspiracy to murder date from 14 to 20 May.

The attempted murder of Tristan, Blake and two other children happened on 23 May. The pair also attempted to murder one of the children again on 24 May.

A whole-life order means a prisoner can never be considered for parole.