Louise Porton (born 1996) is a British double murderer who came to public attention in 2019 when she was convicted of murdering her two children as they "got in the way" of her sex life. Between 2 January and 1 February 2018, she repeatedly attacked and then killed her two daughters, one aged three years and one aged 17 months. Suspicion soon fell on her when she was noted to show little concern at the unexplained deaths of her two children only 18 days apart, and a police investigation found that she had made a number of incriminating internet searches at the time attempting to find out how to successfully murder her children and cover up her crimes. At trial, she was convicted by unanimous jury decision and sentenced to a minimum of 32 years' imprisonment. She is imprisoned at HM Prison Foston Hall.
Background
At the time of the murders, 22-year-old Porton and her children, 3-year-old Lexi and 17-month-old Scarlett, lived in Beechwood Court in Rugby, Warwickshire. Between August 2016 and November 2017, they lived at an address in Willenhall near Walsall, where the landlady spent "more and more time" caring for the children as Porton socialised instead of looking after them. The landlady later testified that Porton would do "whatever she could not to have them with her". Porton claimed to be a model and spent a large amount of time on dating apps and offering men sexual services for money. The children's father did not have contact with them and had never met Scarlett. Porton would later admit she found that parenting was "not one of the easiest things to do".
Murders
Lexi Draper
In January 2018, Porton's daughter Lexi Draper was admitted to hospital several times for illnesses which doctors could not explain. She was first taken to hospital on 2 January suffering from breathing difficulties, before being taken again on 4 January, both times being saved only by the work of paramedics. Her symptoms were consistent with deliberate airway obstruction, but doctors at the time did not consider this suspicious and believed that her condition arose from a chest infection. While her daughter was in hospital, Porton showed little concern for her child, sending nude photographs to a photographer from the toilets in the hospital and offering sex acts in return for money.
Only a few days after Lexi had been discharged from hospital, Porton called 999 reporting her daughter was ill again. When the operator asked if the girl was breathing, Porton simply replied "no". When help arrived, it was found that Lexi had been long dead before her mother had even reported her unwell. Despite the girl's death, Porton again showed little concern about her daughter, spending the next day accepting 41 friend requests on the dating app Meet Me and also messaging men on another app, Badoo. She messaged one man "my little girl passed away yesterday" as they chatted about tattoos. She also spent the day arranging to meet with men. A couple of weeks after her daughter's death Porton was heard laughing in the funeral parlour by the funeral arranger, who said she saw her using FaceTime speaking to a man.
Scarlett Vaughan
Only 18 days after Lexi had died, and only two days after Porton was heard laughing at the funeral parlour, Porton's 17-month old other daughter suddenly and inexplicably died. Porton had called 111, the non-emergency NHS line, reporting that her daughter was unwell, yet despite claiming she thought the condition "did not seem urgent", the toddler was found dead and "completely lifeless" by the time paramedics arrived 9 minutes later. It was again discovered that the child had been dead for some time before Porton had called for help. Doctors again found that the death was consistent with deliberate airway obstruction and Porton again showed little concern at the sudden and unexplained death.
Doctors could not find any natural reason why either of the children, let alone both, had died. Porton claimed Scarlett had the flu.