Fiona Anderson inquest: Pregnant mother who killed herself and her three children wrote love messages on their bodies and tucked them in bed

‘Emotionally disturbed’ 23-year-old wrote on walls ‘they look so peaceful’

The family of Fiona Anderson said she had suffered from mental illness since she was young

A pregnant mother of three who killed her children and then herself in Suffolk wrote “I love you” on their bodies before kissing and tucking them up in bed, an inquest has heard.

Police found three-year-old Levina, two-year-old Addy and 11-month-old Kyden laid in their mother’s bed after Fiona Anderson, 23, jumped from a car park in Lowestoft on 15 April last year.

An inquest heard today that the children had been drowned in the bath, with post-mortem evidence suggesting they had neither been restrained nor assaulted.

Each of the three children had a heart drawn on their torso in green ink to spell out the message “I love you x”, while police also found evidence of a lipstick-mark kiss on each of their foreheads.

Chief Inspector Andy Smith said officers had entered Ms Anderson’s bedroom to find three messages written on the walls. “I put them to bed with their bear bears – they loved their bears,” read one.

Another message said: “I love them and I’m going to keep them safe,” while the third read: “They’re cuddled up together sleeping. They look so peaceful.”

Mr Smith said Ms Anderson was also found to have written the names of her children on her own body, as well as “Eve”, the name she intended to give her unborn daughter.

At an inquest in Bury St Edmunds that is expected to last two days, coroner Peter Dean said the Ms Anderson’s family had been known to a number of care agencies since she first became pregnant in 2009, and child protection plans were in place after concerns were raised.

Mr Smith said that the day before the deaths Ms Anderson had argued with the children’s father Craig McClellan after he started a new relationship. She stabbed him during the confrontation, but lied about it to police in order to stop the children being taken into care.

Mr Smith said: “It is clear that Fiona Anderson loved her children but that she was extremely emotionally disturbed on April 13, 14 and 15.”

A letter found after her death provided further “harrowing insight into her life”, Mr Smith said, including “her intention to take her children with her”.