A mum who was allowed to return home by police after she confessed to assaulting her husband went on to murder their two children just hours later, an inquest heard.

Veronique John was given an indefinite hospital order last year for killing her daughter Elizabeth, seven, and son Ethan, 11, at their Stoke residence in June 2023. An inquest into the tragic deaths of the young children is currently underway at Stoke Civic Centre.

On Tuesday (July 29), coroner Emma Serrano began hearing evidence from a Staffordshire Police officer who had visited the family's home the day prior to the children's deaths. The coroner also listened to details of a review carried out regarding how the heartbreaking case was managed by the force.

The investigation concluded that the service standard provided by Staffordshire Police was "inadequate", according to the inquest, as reported by Stoke on Trent Live.

The children's father, Nathan John, had expressed worries that weekend that his wife would "use the children against him", reports the Manchester Evening News.

Police were initially summoned to the family home on Flax Street on Friday, July 9 after Mrs John made a 999 call. When PC Megan Maddox arrived, Mr John had vacated the house, but the two children were upstairs and she assessed the situation as "medium risk".

PC John Harrison, who was part of the case review, informed the inquest: "In respect of the John family, this was their first interaction with Staffordshire Police. I believe (the children) overheard verbal arguing; both children were in bed upstairs and didn't see any violence."

Another 999 call was made, this time by Mr John, claiming he had been assaulted by his wife. The following day, June 10, officers visited him at his workplace where they observed a swollen forearm and a lump on his forehead.

He alleged that she had attacked him with a piece of wood and threatened to stab him while he slept. Later that day, Mrs John was arrested at home and taken into custody for questioning.

She confessed to slapping her husband but denied making any death threats.

Sergeant Steven Marriott, responsible for booking in at the northern area custody facility that evening, stated that Mrs John confirmed she was on medication for depression.

The facility's mental health team had already left for the day as they only operate until 8pm, however, a healthcare professional was on hand to assess Mrs John if deemed necessary.

Sergeant Marriott informed the inquest: "There was nothing that made me feel she needed to see a healthcare professional at the time. I did not believe there was any reason to delay the interview with Mrs John."

PC Maddox described Mrs John as "seeming quite apologetic" about the assault. It was proposed that the incident be handled through a community resolution notice, given it was her first encounter with the police.

She was allowed to return home in the early hours of Sunday, July 11. Mr John relocated to another address and his wife remained at home with their children, but later that afternoon, Mr John reported to the police that he had been stabbed.

PC Harrison stated: "Officers initially went to the home address and that's where officers found both of the children. Veronique John contacted police, stating she was at her home and had killed the children."

Paramedics were dispatched to the home address but were unable to save the children. They were declared dead just after 2.30pm.

The inquest was told that if a domestic violence protection notice had been issued instead of the community resolution notice, Mrs John would have been barred from returning to her home address for 48 hours.

PC Maddox informed the inquest: "While I was speaking to Mr John on the Saturday evening I asked if the children were safe at home with mum and he said yes; I believed there was no physical threat to the children.

"He had somewhere else to go and we didn't believe that she did. She was the main carer for the children while he worked and I thought the physical risk was focussed on Mr John, not the children."

PC Harrison stated: "This was a highly unusual outcome. Officers will see a high number of domestic abuse cases, but case like these are extremely rare."

The inquest continues.