I tried to wake them but they didn't respond: Mother tells court of moment she tried to rouse her children who were killed by their 'perfect dad'
A taxi driver who killed his two children with a petrol-soaked rag was a 'perfect dad', their mother has told a jury.
Endris Mohammed gave his children money to buy toys and played on the X Box with son Saros hours before their deaths.
Saros, aged eight, and six-year-old sister Leanor died after their father smothered them as he set fire to the family home in Holland Road, Hamstead, Great Barr, a judge at Birmingham Crown Court heard.
Their mother Penil Teklehaimanot, who was sleeping upstairs, told the court of the heartbreaking moment she attempted to rouse her children, who had chemical burns on their faces, after being awoken by the smoke alarm.
Uber driver Mohammed, 47, admits causing the deaths of his children in October 2016 but denies murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility in that he was mentally impaired at the time.
He also denies attempting to murder his wife.
He claims he sunk into a deep depression before deciding to kill himself and his family.
Giving evidence, Ms Teklehaimanot said she had noticed no difference in her husband on the day before the tragedy.
She explained how he gave the children £70 to buy toys from Smyths in Walsall as Leanor's birthday was five days away and when she told her husband she was concerned she was going to receive a parking ticket she said he offered to pay it, telling her not to worry.
"He was gentle as usual," she told the court.
Mr Timothy Raggatt, defending, asked her: "You have described him as the perfect dad?"
She replied: "Yes, he was the perfect dad."
The last time she said she heard from Mohammed was when he said 'good night' as she went to bed.
When she saw the fire at the bottom of the stairs, she called out for him but got no response.
She managed to put out the flames with her hands and feet before attending to her children, who were not breathing.
She told the court: "I tried to wake them, I said 'Saros, Saros' but they didn't respond to me."
CCTV footage was played to the jury showing Mohammed buying a fuel can from the Esso petrol station on Hamstead Road and filling it with petrol at 4pm on October 27.
He returned home about 10pm and stayed with the children, who were allowed to sleep downstairs as a half-term treat.
The court heard how Saros asked to wait for his supper until his father returned so they could eat together. Their mother was awoken around 3am.
Mohammed told doctors he decided to kill his children, who were said to be gifted pupils at St Mark's Primary School in Great Barr, along with himself as they were 'better off dead' than being without him.
But he botched his attempt to take his own life and was found next to his burned-out Uber taxi in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire.
The trial continues.
