‘I had to do this’ Twisted mum caged for 24 years after stabbing young daughters to death

A MUM has been jailed for a minimum of 24 years after she was found guilty of murdering her two young daughters – despite previously blaming the killings on fear of their “violent” dad.

CAGED: Lupidi has been sentenced for a minimum of 24 years

Samira Lupidi knifed 17-month-old Jasmine Weaver and three-year-old Evelyn Lupidi at a women's refuge.

She stabbed them repeatedly in the chest as they struggled – before running out of the room yelling that she had "killed the children".

She was found guilty of both murders by a jury of six men and six women after just 90 minutes of deliberation at Bradford Crown Court.

There were shouts of "yes" from the packed public gallery as the verdicts were read out.

LOSS: Evelyn and Jasmine were both found with nine stab wounds at a women's refuge

TRAGIC: Samira Lupidi and her kids Jasmine Weaver (left) and Evelyn Lupidi (right)

Lupidi previously admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility but denied murdering the girls.

The 24-year-old even sobbed in the dock, explaining that she stabbed them in fear of their violent dad taking them.

But jurors heard that her partner, Carl Weaver, 31, was falsely accused of domestic violence by Samira – who had a "complete misinterpretation of reality".

Lupidi sat with her head bowed in tears as she was comforted by a security guard today.

Peter Moulson QC, prosecuting, told the jury how the Italian mother and her children ended up in the refuge on November 17 last year, after she called police to her home in Heckmondwike, West Yorks.

GIRLS: Jasmine Weaver and Evelyn Lupidi together

Lupidi told police officers that Mr Weaver had slapped her twice the night before and she was scared he was going to kill her.

Mr Moulson said: "As a result of these allegations Samira Lupidi and her two children were taken to a women's refuge in Bradford.

"During an induction at the refuge she told a support worker that Mr Weaver would want the children and would kill her and the children if he found her."

TRIAL: Lupidi appeared at Bradford Crown Court

But the morning after she was admitted, staff at the refuge found Lupidi running out of the flat she had been allocated and shouting she had "killed the children".

Mr Moulson said the defendant told another member of staff: "It's his fault. Now he has a reason to kill me. If I can't have them, he can't have them either.

"He was coming to get me. I had to do this."

Summing up, Mr Justice Edis said: "This is a crime which speaks of rage and I sentence you on the basis that you killed them in anger and out of a desire for revenge.

"This passion was not long lasting, but it lasted long enough to see them both dead.

"Even a week later you were telling the prison medical staff that the most important thing was that Carl Weaver was suffering."