Incest Siblings Murder Their Kids To Hide Their Secret

Some secrets can be a terrible thing, but for the family we are discussing today, their secret ate them alive. We’ve discussed many heinous families recently, but this one is on a whole other level—not only due to the crime that took place but the disgusting family secret that they were trying to bury. Stay with us because this case is going to be a lot; it is not for the faint of heart. This is the terrifying story of the Barrass family.

The Boys and Their Community

Tristan and Blake Barrass were brothers, 14 and 13 years old, and were two of six siblings. Blake was the oldest, and Tristan was the second oldest. They shared an interest in cars and motorcycles. Blake enjoyed playing football, making friends, and cheering people up when they felt down. He was said to have a big heart. He was diagnosed with ADHD and sometimes got into trouble with adults. Tristan had anxiety and was an occasional target for bullies. In spite of his hardships, he was kind and sweet to those he loved.

When one of Tristan’s friends was diagnosed with cancer, he dyed his hair a sunny yellow color to help fund their treatment. He would eventually be known for his colorful hair.

“With natural hair, you just look like every other person. ‘Why have you got a bright yellow Mohican?’ is a question I’ve never had to ask in all my years here, but today it’s the one I’m asking of you.” “It turns out Tristan’s new look is for charity. My friend is dying of bone cancer. I asked if I could dye my head yellow for him.”

The boys lived with their mother, Sarah, in Sheffield, England, and attended school at the Firth Park Academy. Their home was on Gregg House Road in the Shiregreen suburb. It was a council-style home with an overgrown, unmaintained front garden. Their community was relatively small, so many of the locals knew of Tristan and Blake even if they didn’t know them by their names. Employees of local shops said the boys were always smiling, polite, and sweet.

A Dark Family Secret

Sarah told everyone that her children’s father was dead. It’s reported one of the younger children was convinced that their father died in World War II, despite it being 2019 at the time of our story. However, the father of Sarah’s children was none other than her half-brother, Brandon Machin. For years, they had a secret relationship.

In the eyes of outsiders and the children, Uncle Brandon was just a supportive family member. It’s been noted that Brandon seemed like a doormat who would do anything—and I mean anything—that Sarah asked of him.

Sarah was no stranger to British Family and Child Services. It’s been reported that she herself was a victim of family violence and childhood sexual assault. Four of her six children had special needs, and Sarah wasn’t always equipped to give them the aid that they needed. She reached out to Social Services for aid but was constantly fearful her children would be taken away. Social workers often checked in on the children, but they never reported signs of mistreatment or neglect. Agents regarded Sarah as a good mother to her children. These agents did not suspect anything unusual about Sarah and Brandon or thought that the children were in any danger, even though Sarah’s brother, Martin, called Social Services because he was afraid for his nephews’ safety when they were young.

Warnings From the Uncle

Martin was uneasy about his sister and half-brother for as long as he could remember. He said:

“Those two have been evil since birth. They are both as bad as each other. They are both murdering, evil psychopaths. I witnessed Brandon’s violence towards Blake years ago, and I knew something wasn’t right. I visited them when Tristan was still in his pushchair and Blake was only a toddler; he must have been three or four. We were out walking when Brandon grabbed Blake’s arm really roughly and dragged him across the floor. It was enough to know something wasn’t right, so I called Social Services and asked them to look into it.”

In another instance, Martin said:

“I had concerns, so I reported them to Social Services. It was 2009 or 2010 that I made complaints. It was three phone calls. I told them about the incident. I was told they would look into it, but I didn’t hear back from them. I feel like I was ignored.”

Martin also recalled growing up with Sarah and Brandon. Their mother had eight children in total with four different men. They were in the British foster care system for a short period, but they were all eventually returned to their mother. But their mother was far from responsible. Martin said, “They were constantly guests in the home getting drunk, stoned, or both. There weren’t any house rules or regulations, so the children often had to fend for themselves.”

Sarah and Martin were close when they were younger. Martin remembers his sister as shy but protective, but whatever relationship they had gradually died when their older half-brother, Brandon, came into the picture. He said:

“Once Sarah and Brandon got close, she changed. She became a bully. As soon as he came, there was a bond. They would always be together and were thick as thieves. Brandon once beat someone up at school for no reason just to impress Sarah.”

He also touched on Brandon’s behavior towards other people. He said, “Brandon would torment me. One day at the park, Brandon called me over, turned me upside down, and rammed me headfirst into the floor. He terrified me. He was violent and would punch people for no reason and get into fights. Sarah was his sidekick; they were always whispering together.”

When they were younger, Martin heard his other sister screaming. He found Sarah and Brandon trampling and stomping on small black and white mice. They were laughing about it. Martin tried to get them to stop, but he wasn’t strong enough to stop them. Sarah and Brandon left when their fun ran out. Martin and his other sister stayed behind where they cried over their dead mice.

In another instance, Martin and Sarah were playing outside with some other kids. A girl they knew climbed up a tree. Sarah, unprovoked, followed the girl and pushed her as hard as she could. The girl fell and hit the ground hard, injuring her arm in the process. Sarah again laughed. Martin had already clocked that his sister wasn’t normal and that she was capable of extreme violence. He did his part in calling Social Services and expressing his concerns. Unfortunately, his words fell on deaf ears.

In interviews, Martin does not spend much time mourning the sister he once had; instead, he thinks more on the person she chose to become:

“Her behavior… the way she’d act like animals for one, finding a bird’s nest and she killed two birds just straight across with stones, and I was crying my eyes out and she wasn’t even assed. The mice that she had that she just stamped on wasn’t normal behavior. I was in tears and she was just laughing. She’s messed me up a little bit and I really, I feel numb at times as well. Like, guilty. I mean, I should have spoken more, or you know what I mean, gone down and seen them more. I should have done something more, you know, I could have picked up on something, you know what I mean? So yeah, I feel guilty and I feel like I’ve let them down, as everyone else.”

The Breaking Point

Sarah was reported as saying the phrase, “I gave you life, I can take it away,” to her children by people visiting her home. However, Sarah wasn’t exaggerating; she would make good on those words.

Tristan and Blake both began exhibiting troubling behavior. Sarah claimed that her two oldest had addictions to adult content. Blake at one point got behind the wheel of his aunt’s car without permission and was getting aggressive with his younger siblings. In 2018, the household was assigned a social worker following some disturbing allegations against Blake. Details are vague, but it is reported that Blake was accused of some kind of inappropriate behavior towards another child. Blake would have been between 12 and 13 during this accusation. Social Services sought out to nip this behavior in the bud. Blake worked closely with a social worker, and he was responsive to getting the treatment he needed. Sarah was advised to have an open-door policy. She found this difficult to maintain in her small house.

As social workers continued working with the family, they may have detected something was wrong in the home. On May 21st, 2019, social workers had a meeting with the children without Sarah present. She knew about this meeting and was incredibly anxious. The following day, she learned that her family would be under closer observation by Social Services. Sarah was questioned about the identity of the children’s father and about potential sexual abuse within the home due to Blake’s reported behavior. Sarah refused to answer these questions. She was described by social workers as defiant.

Then, on May 23rd, 2019, Sarah answered a phone call. The person on the other line, who has not been named, accused Tristan of inappropriate behavior against another child. This individual said they would go to the police the very next day.

Sarah may have been considering extreme measures against her children as early as the 2018 allegations. She had reached out to her friends over texts for comfort and to vent. In one message she said:

“I still feel like I failed Blake, so this isn’t helping. I feel like I should lock me and my lot away so they can’t hurt anyone else. I want to die daily, to run away and hide from everyone. I thought of every possible solution to this mess: mass murder, putting them all in care, checking into the local nuthouse. I love my kids too much to kill them. I can’t put them into care for the same reason.”

It’s reported that in July of 2018, Sarah posted multiple images of grim reapers on her social media pages. She captioned one of the images with: “I’m not mean or cold-hearted. I’m just sick of being fucked over.” In another post, she quoted the Stephen King novel Under the Dome: “Murder is like potato chips: you can’t stop with just one.”

A Calculated Familicide

The combination of the new allegation, the looming presence of social workers, and the fear of being discovered for their disgusting relationship led Sarah and Brandon to go the scorched-earth nuclear route: familicide. They had already made plans over the course of a week, so it’s possible that the phone call tipped them over the edge.

Sarah began to collect various medications from around the house in order to give them to her children. She had hoped that they would overdose in their sleep and then Sarah would remove herself from this earth. The very next morning, Brandon would then alert the police upon his false discovery of the family’s death. To Sarah and Brandon, in their sick and twisted minds, death was a better, kinder fate than losing their children to Social Services.

Sarah piled together various drugs from the home and forced her four older children to take them. The children protested taking the pills, but their mother forced them to swallow them. It’s also reported she sent messages and made social media posts about an illness in her household. The medications made the children sick with overdose symptoms. Sarah hoped that by the next morning her children would already be cold and dead, but the drug cocktail thankfully was not lethal.

Frantically trying to move forward, Sarah cluttered her search history with causes of death, including drowning, strangulation, and suffocation. At 5:00 in the morning, she called Brandon for help. He took a taxi to the home on Gregg House Road. Tragically, despite surviving the poisoning attempt, Sarah and Brandon together strangled Tristan and Blake. It’s reported Sarah used the belt from her bathrobe, and Brandon used his bare hands. Tristan fought back at first and begged his mother to stop.

“Mom is killing Tristan!” Blake yelled to his younger siblings before Brandon descended upon him. The boys fell unconscious. Sarah and Brandon tied trash bags over their heads to make sure they were dead.

Brandon then helped himself to an energy drink afterwards, while Sarah attempted to drown another one of her children in the bathtub. The child screamed and thrashed and asked, “Why are you trying to kill us?” It’s not reported why, but when Sarah couldn’t drown her child, she assembled her remaining children into her bedroom and called the authorities on herself. It’s possible the guilt or anxiety started to eat her alive, and thankfully, it saved the lives of her other four children.

The Aftermath and Arrest

Officers arrived at the scene between 7:30 and 7:45 in the morning. They asked about the well-being and the whereabouts of the two older children. Sarah said Tristan and Blake were visiting someone else. But when one of the surviving children looked at the officers and gestured towards their neck with their hand across their throat, silently saying “dead,” Sarah saw this and said, “Stop, don’t say that.”

Officers found Tristan and Blake in their bunk beds. The trash bags were still over their heads. The police arrived before the younger siblings could be fatally harmed, but they still rushed all the children to the hospital. Sarah gave one of the officers a notebook in her handwriting. The page she opened read: “Funeral arrangements.”

A police representative gave an initial statement to the press:

“Good afternoon. We’re here on Gregg House Road here in Sheffield. A tragic scene of events this morning at around 7:30. The emergency services responded to a property on this street. As a result of that, Yorkshire Ambulance Service, the Yorkshire Air Ambulance Service attended here and a number of children were taken to hospital. Sadly, two children have since died and four children remain in hospital. As you can appreciate, this is very early stages of our investigation. Our detectives are supporting the family. The family are aware of the circumstances and our inquiries will continue to develop during the day. I think it’s really important that I reassure the wider community that there is no wider risk. Two people have been arrested on suspicion of murder and remain in police custody.”

When asked about the cause of the injuries, the officer replied:

“I think at this moment in time it’s too early to say. A postmortem will take place. The investigation is at very early stages and detectives working closely with a number of different lines of inquiry. Our specialist family support officers are with the family at this moment in time.”

Regarding protective equipment or weapons:

“As part of our forensic examination, that would be routine, but in terms of that wider bit, no, not at this moment in time. At this moment in time, I’m not able to provide those further details. As you can appreciate, this is very much a live investigation, and it’s important that I reassure the community. And also that speculation… I’m aware of wider speculation regarding the use of weapons. At the moment, there is no wider risk to the community in Sheffield.”

Tristan and Blake were pronounced dead by medical professionals between 9:00 and 9:30 in the morning on May 24th, 2019. Sarah only told medical examiners she tried to poison her children with medication, but Brandon confessed everything to the police. He said that he began strangling Blake because he got “that feeling when you just want to strangle the life out of someone.”

Sarah and Brandon were arrested. The other four children were taken to the hospital. After they were deemed well enough, they were discharged that afternoon. In accordance with UK publishing laws, the other children’s identities were not released as they were younger than 13 during the tragedy.

The massive police presence outside the home drew the media’s interest. They only knew that children had been harmed and later two children had died. At first, the public speculated that there was a shooting within the home. The house was less than a mile from a school, the Hartley Brook Academy, so understandably there were concerns for the young students’ safety. But law enforcement assured the public the incident was not related to the Hartley Brook Academy. Aside from a traffic detour, the school operated as normal, only with the knowledge that medical aircraft had temporarily landed in their playground earlier that morning.

Later in the day, the Chief Inspector gave an update to the community:

“We will remain in the area this afternoon and into the evening carrying out inquiries and providing reassurance. I appreciate the events of this morning have caused concern locally, but I’d like to reassure you that there is no wider risk to the community. We will be providing regular updates when we are able to.”

A Community in Mourning

Martin, Sarah’s brother and the two boys’ uncle, learned about his nephews’ passing through a link on Facebook. He said the following:

“It felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to my stomach. I instantly felt sick. I spoke to my mom and she said Sarah and Brandon had been arrested. The next day she told me they had been charged. I was disgusted. There are no words for them. Blake and Tristan were polite, kind-hearted lads. It’s a tragic waste of life.”

Martin also criticized Social Services for their failure to act before it was too late. He said:

“Social Services have been aware of our family since before Sarah had kids. They don’t seem to have done the job they could have done or should have done. That’s what I’m struggling to understand. The main people to blame are Sarah and Brandon. Social Services could have prevented it, could have stopped it. This will haunt us forever.”

In the wake of the sentencing, the police held the following press conference:

“Ladies and gentlemen, today the judicial process has taken its course and the judge has made his decision on the outcomes for those that were responsible for the events on the 24th of May this year, a day that will be remembered in memory of many people for all the wrong reasons. I’m not here, nor would you expect me to do so, to comment on those sentences, but I would like to say a few words. I’d firstly like to thank all those that helped the investigating officers over these difficult last few months. I know this hasn’t been easy for family members and loved ones, but you have been the hearts and minds of all the South Yorkshire Police family. Incidents like this are fortunately very, very rare. Sheffield is a place where we look after each other, we care for each other, and the community is at our heart. We continue to work with partners to ensure any of the young people affected by this incident will be given specialist support and provided the right direction as they move forward with their lives. On a final note, I would like to thank the press for their support in the reporting of this matter in some kind of difficult circumstances. Your support and understanding has been appreciated by the family and all. Thank you.”

Ed Tober from the Crown Prosecution Service added:

“This was an appalling crime in which two young lives were lost and a family was torn apart leaving a community in shock. Two of the surviving children witnessed their older siblings being attacked, and the trauma that all the children have experienced and will continue to experience is unimaginable. This is now paramount: surviving children allowed to rebuild their lives in peace. Thank you.”

The local community raised £3,000 for Tristan and Blake’s funeral service, but funeral director Michael Fogg said he would pay out of his own pocket for the boys’ burials. The money was split four ways and put into bank accounts for the surviving children. The two boys’ love for cars and motorcycles inspired 300 local bikers to take part in the funeral procession. There were also two Lamborghinis. A white wooden bench outside Firth Park Academy was decorated with flowers, ribbons, and a plush animal toy in honor of Tristan and Blake. The school also provided therapeutic services to their students in the following months of the tragedy.

The families within the community were deeply affected by the murders. Reporters with the Huffington Post interviewed some of the residents in Sheffield. Those who knew the family personally were deep in mourning. 31-year-old mother Sam Parker said her daughter asked a question that no child should ever even think to ask: “Mommy, you won’t kill or hurt me, will you?” She said:

“It is sick that parents could do that to their own kids. It hits children particularly hard, and it makes them question everything. Even as an adult, it makes you question humanity and what people are capable of, makes you want to keep your own children close to you and safe, and you realize you don’t know what is going on behind closed doors.”

Members of the community that were familiar with Brandon said they thought he was friendly and never had the impression he could do something so heinous. The general feeling among everyone was a mixture of shock, anger, and mourning. Another resident said that Social Services were investigating Sarah’s relationship with Brandon, and that sent Sarah past her tipping point, though the official statement from Social Services would say they didn’t suspect a thing.

Psychologist Amanda Gummer gave advice for families in the process of grieving such an event. She said not to brush off your children’s fears, but to also not tell them sugarcoated lies. Bad things happen in the world, but you will do your job as a parent to keep them as safe from danger as you can. Moreover, talking through tough emotions and seeking help are key ways to heal from any traumatic event. She explains, “If you break your leg and don’t treat it, it won’t heal and you will always limp. In the same way, if you experience an emotional trauma, the sooner it is dealt with, the less long-term the impact.”

The Trial and Sentencing

Sarah and Brandon pled guilty to conspiracy, murder, and attempted murder. Sarah cried when she was told of the possible life sentence she could face. Prosecutor Kama Melly told the court that one of the surviving older children expressed fears that they would become a violent criminal when they grew up because their mother and father were murderers. They said they missed their brothers.

Of the accused, prosecutor Melly told the courts, “Although clearly the defendants were motivated to prevent the loss of their children to the care of the local authority, this was combined with their fear of the authorities becoming aware of their unnatural relationship.”

The younger children, all under 3 years old, never called out for their mother or asked to see her during and after the trial. They were given the care and support they needed to heal from this traumatic experience. They asked their mother be locked away in prison for 300 years. The child who was nearly drowned was reported to have developed a fear of baths.

Agents and practitioners testified in court that they had no reason to believe anything was amiss within the home, or that the relationship between Sarah and Brandon was anything but familiar. In his defense of her, lawyer Brian Cox discussed Sarah’s troubled upbringing and the damage it caused. He said, “The defendant was desperate to prevent her children being taken into care. She couldn’t cope with the prospect of them being removed.”

Before he read his judgment, Justice James Goss said:

“Both the children who survived were clearly aware of some of the terrifying events surrounding the deaths of their brothers and your attempt to drown one of them. The initial effect on them as described by them was frightening and unsurprisingly they are extremely upset and anxious. The statement from their social worker on their behalf describes their inevitable confusion, the effect of the loss of their brothers upon them, and the incredible emotional hardship of these events on the older children and of being separated. Inevitably they will require a significant amount of support. The long-term consequences for them and the younger children as they grow older and become aware of what happened cannot be known, but is likely to be significant.”

Before this point, the press wasn’t allowed to report on the incestuous relationship between Sarah and Brandon. After the sentencing, Justice Goss gave the press permission to report this fact once it was proven within the courts. Justice Jeremy Richardson, who presided over the sentencing, told the defendants before giving his verdict:

“No words of mine can ever fully reflect the enormity of what you have both done. The crimes you have committed, quite frankly, speak for themselves. The murder of two children, the attempted murder of four children, and the overarching conspiracy to murder those children… I repeat, those crimes speak for themselves. I have little doubt that each of you will in due course be sentenced to several terms of life imprisonment.”

Sarah and Brandon were sentenced to 35 years to life in prison.

A Community’s Final Farewell

One of Tristan and Blake’s friends, Matthew Saunders, gave a statement outside the courthouse after the sentencing. He said:

“Blake and Tristan were two beautiful, confident, and outgoing boys who both had a bright future ahead of them. They had so many friends and they lit up any room they were in, especially Tristan, who loved to dye his hair bright colors. Daily life will never be the same again. Now the boys have left behind younger siblings whose lives have been turned upside down. They adored their older brothers and they looked up to them. The boys have also left behind close family, friends, and younger children who looked up to them and who saw them on a regular basis. And this tragedy hasn’t just affected those close to them, but the whole community too. A piece of all our hearts died on the 24th of May 2019, which we will never get back. Blake and Tristan leave a huge empty void in our lives, and we did not get the chance to say goodbye. We are relieved justice has been served, but it should never have come to this. We would like to thank the emergency services who attended and did everything they possibly could to save Blake and Tristan. We cannot thank them enough. We would like to thank the family liaison officer, DC Little, for all her help and support over the last 6 months and for making it that bit easier when we were struggling. We cannot put into words the pain and emptiness we feel, but we find some comfort in knowing Blake and Tristan will always be remembered and how loved both boys were. Thank you.”

Following Sarah and Brandon’s trials, a Serious Case Review (SCR) was conducted on Tristan and Blake’s deaths. In Britain, SCRs are always conducted following the death of a child due to mistreatment. The report found that the agents and practitioners from Social Services saw Sarah as competent, caring, and capable, which conflicts with the measures taken in 2019 to deduce mistreatment in the home. Officially, Social Services could not have predicted this tragedy, but there were internal failings that undoubtedly endangered the children.

The Shiregreen house was abandoned for some time and stood as a reminder for everyone of the tragedy within those walls. Though various people left flowers and balloons along the fence in memory of Tristan and Blake, the neighboring families called for the property to be demolished, and it finally was in February of 2021 by the new owners, a not-for-profit company called Sanctuary Housing. Their spokesperson said on the matter:

“The decision has been taken as we believe it is the right option to help the local community move forward and because it will allow us to create a suitable memorial to the events that occurred. An open space will be created when the property is removed and the space will include a memorial tree to provide a subtle reminder of the tragic events that occurred at the address.”

The surviving children had their names changed. They have not spoken out since, so we can only hope that they are safe and cared for.