A woman in Britain who murdered her two young daughters has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 32 years.

Louise Porton (23) killed Lexi (3) and seventeen-month-old Scarlett in January and February last year after they "got in the way" of her sex life.

Porton, formerly of Rugby in Warwickshire, England accepted 41 friend requests on a dating app just a day after the first child, Lexi, died.

She was described by prosecutors as being "calm and emotionless" following Scarlett's death.

Porton was heard laughing at a funeral parlour by a funeral arranger, who told her trial that he saw her "using FaceTime and that she was speaking to a man".

Lexi was admitted to hospital with breathing difficulties in early January 2018 and discharged with antibiotics.

On January 15th paramedics responded to an emergency call, where they found she had died.

Just 18 days later Porton dialled a National Health Service (NHS) helpline, saying Scarlett was unwell in the car while she drove her to hospital.

When emergency services attended, they found Scarlett had been dead for some time.

Internet searches

Warwickshire Police said it was "clear from the evidence" of damning internet searches about death and Lexi's hospital admissions that Porton had twice tried to kill her daughter before eventually succeeding.

She used her Google account to search for "Why did my 3 year(-old) stop breathing", and "Why do toddler having a fit stop them breathing".

When Lexi was ill in hospital, just over a week before she died, Porton took topless photos in the toilets and was arranging to perform sex acts for money with a man she had met through a website.

Porton sat in the dock throughout the hearing, with her head resting on her hands, looking down at her feet.

Jailing her on Friday, Mrs Justice Amanda Yip described her actions as "evil" and "calculated", and told her: "These were blameless young children who were plainly vulnerable and ought to have been able to rely on their mother to protect and nurture them.

"Instead you took their young lives away."

In a statement that was read to the court on his behalf, Lexi and Scarlett's father, Chris Draper, said he was "broken".

"I don't know how I will go on as I have nothing to live for. Why did Louise do something so evil to our daughters?

"Maybe if social services had listened to me, they would still be alive today. I hate Louise. No punishment will ever be enough".