Claire Throssell is campaigning to change the law and end the presumption of contact for parents after her two sons were killed in a house fire started by their abusive father.
Published 14th Oct 2026, 17:53 BST
Andy Burnham has backed Yorkshire mum Claire Throssell, whose campaign to end the presumption of contact for dangerous parents, which led to the death of her two sons, took a step closer to becoming law.
Jack, 12, and Paul, nine, were killed in a house fire started by their father in October 2014 in Penistone, South Yorkshire, after he was granted access to the boys.
The horrific incident has left a huge mark on the community. The inquest heard they had been lured to their father Darren Sykes’s home with a new model train set, before he set fire to the building, also killing himself.
He had been granted access to his children for five hours a week, despite Ms Throssell’s evidence that he had previously threatened to kill them and himself.
In his final moments, brave Jack attempted to save his brother’s life and “used his dying breath and dying words to say that a parent had hurt him and hurt him on purpose”.
Now MPs have voted in favour of “Jack and Paul’s Law”, which ends the presumption of parental contact, as part of the Government’s Courts and Tribunals Bill.
This will repeal a law under the Children Act 1989 which currently guides the Family Court to presume that contact with both parents is usually in the best interests of a child.
New Prime Minister Mr Burnham met Ms Throssell after the vote, alongside her MP in Penistone Dr Marie Tidball, and told her that she had his firm support.
“I showed him a photograph of the boys and told him about who they were - not how they died - but who they were,” Ms Throssell told The Yorkshire Post.
“I said ‘this is a young boy who died believing he had saved the life of his brother’ and he was affected.
“It felt like he really did see me, he really did hear what I had to say and he supported it.
“It’s one thing to hear the soundbite but it’s another to meet someone, who looks you in the eye and gives a promise. That meant a lot.”
Ms Throssell was sitting in the House of Commons as MPs voted 301 to 193 in favour of the Bill.
“It doesn’t feel like a victory because Jack and Paul are not here,” she said.
“But what it did feel like is the moment when we can make a real difference to children’s lives.”
Tragically 68 children have been killed during court-permitted visits with their parents that were known domestic abusers, since Women’s Aid started recording the deaths.
Jack and Paul’s Law was Penistone and Stocksbridge MP Dr Tidball’s main commitment when she was elected in 2024.
“It was beautiful to see Claire and Andy meet for the first time,” she said.
“Both Keir [Starmer] and Andy have promised that they will deliver the law. It was quite the moment.
“I’m a Penistone girl, I know how much my hometown has grieved for Jack and Paul.
“To end up in Parliament with the Prime Minister as the Bill is passed - there are not many moments like that in life.”