Miss Melly said: "Visitors to Miss Barrass's house would hear her tell the boys 'I gave you life, I can take it away'.
"Speaking to the boys in that way was described as an everyday thing."
The court heard that the defendants gathered up tablets from around the house on the evening of May 23 and divided them between the four eldest children.
Miss Melly said: "None of the children wanted to take the tablets but were forced to do so.
"The defendants expected the tablets to kill the children overnight."
The court heard that Barrass sent messages and made social media posts overnight claiming that they were suffering from a sickness bug.
But when she realised the tablets had not had the effect she wanted, she began to search for information on the internet about alternative methods of murdering her children, including suffocating, strangulation and drowning.
Barrass called Machin and told him the plan had not worked and he needed to come to the house in the Shiregreen area of Sheffield.
[...]
The defendants then ran a bath and repeatedly tried to drown one of the younger children, but that child survived, the court heard.
The court heard that Barrass strangled Tristan by wrapping her dressing gown cord around his neck and pulling for around three minutes.
Machin strangled Blake with his hands.
Following the murders, and the attempted murder of the younger child, Barrass took the surviving children into her bedroom and eventually called the police.
Teen brothers murdered by their mum were strangled and had bin bags over heads
sick sick sick ********!!!
