VIVIAN GAMOR'S TRAGIC CRIME IN HACKNEY: CHILDREN MURDERED BY MENTALLY ILL MOTHER

In a devastating case that has shocked the community of Hackney, east London, Vivian Gamor, a 30-year-old woman suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, was responsible for the tragic deaths of her two young children, Antoine and Kenniece. The incident occurred in January of the previous year, revealing significant failures in the social services and mental health systems that had previously been involved with Gamor.

According to an official inquiry, social services failed to adequately recognize the escalating risks posed by Gamor’s deteriorating mental health. Despite her increasingly bizarre and concerning behaviour, she was granted unsupervised access to her children, a decision that would have tragic consequences. The investigation highlighted that mental health professionals should have paid closer attention to her erratic claims, including her assertions that she was not the children’s biological mother and that Jesus Christ was her twin.

Gamor’s history with mental health services was complex. In 2006, she was sectioned under the Mental Health Act after threatening her half-sister with a knife. However, she was released after doctors determined she no longer posed a threat to herself or others. Despite her mental health issues, she was later allowed limited, supervised contact with her children. Her ex-partner, Jimi Ogunkoya, who is the children’s father, had previously expressed concerns about her mental state and the safety of their children. He had warned social services about her behaviour, but these warnings did not lead to decisive action.

One troubling incident occurred in 2005 when Ogunkoya picked up the children after a visit and discovered that Gamor had shaved the hair off the side of her daughter Kenniece’s head. The following year, Gamor claimed she no longer wanted to see her children, asserting that they had been stillborn and that her children had been swapped at birth. Despite Ogunkoya’s efforts to prevent her from seeing the children, social services refused to intervene, stating that he would not be allowed to interfere in her relationship with her children. When he raised concerns about the possibility of overnight visits, a social worker dismissed his worries, telling him, “She is their mother.”

Tragically, the situation culminated in the murder of the children. After killing her children, Gamor called emergency services, telling the operator, “I kind of lost it, I snapped.” When police arrived at her Hackney home, they found the bodies of Antoine and Kenniece in her bedroom. Antoine was crouched defensively between the cupboard and the wall, while Kenniece’s body lay nearby with a blood-stained hammer beside her. Gamor’s chilling statement to officers was, “I don’t care, they aren’t mine.”

Further investigations revealed that Gamor had not taken her prescribed anti-psychotic medication for ten days prior to the killings. She was detained indefinitely after admitting to two counts of manslaughter at the Old Bailey in August of the same year. The case has prompted widespread calls for reform in child protection and mental health services. Alan Wood, the director of Children’s Services at Hackney Council, emphasized the importance of closer collaboration between these sectors, acknowledging the unpredictable nature of mental illness and its devastating impact on families. He assured the public that lessons had been learned and that comprehensive reforms, including a thorough review of social work practices and staff skills, had been implemented.

The NSPCC also responded to the tragedy, urging for improved safeguards for children living with parents or carers suffering from mental illness. A spokeswoman highlighted the need for designated medical professionals within NHS trusts to raise awareness of the risks faced by children in such circumstances, aiming to prevent future tragedies of this nature.