Mother in court charged with car boot murders

A woman appeared at the Old Bailey today accused of killing her two children whose bodies were found in the boot of a car.

Fiona Donnison, 43, a former City worker, of Marshwood Road, Lightwater, Surrey, was charged with two murders.

She was remanded in custody for a plea and case management hearing at the same court on October 7.

A trial is expected to take place early next year at Lewes Crown Court.

Three-year-old Harry and two-year-old Elise Donnison were found in separate holdalls in the boot of a Nissan car near the former family home in Heathfield, East Sussex, in January.

The brother and sister appeared to have been asphyxiated and been dead for less than 24 hours.

Sussex Police referred part of their inquiry into the deaths to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) after claims that the children's father, Paul Donnison, who was estranged from Donnison, expressed concern to police about their safety.

After their deaths Mr Donnison issued a statement describing Harry and Elise as "the lights that shone the brightest in my life".