Louise Porton, 23, is accused of murdering three-year-old Lexi Draper and 16-month old Scarlett Vaughan.

The aspiring model is alleged to have obstructed their airways – with Lexi found dead at home on January 15, and Scarlett dying 18 days later on February 1.

Porton, of Skiddaw, Rugby, Warks., today went on trial accused of two counts of murder at Birmingham Crown Court.

Jurors were told both girls died after their mother “deliberately interfered with their breathing.”

It was claimed Porton would also “habitually” leave the children alone and would do “whatever she could not to have them with her.”

“Her two children got in the way of her doing what she wanted, when she wanted and with whom she wanted.”

Oliver Saxby

The girls became a “burden” to her and “got in the way of her doing what she wanted” – which included offering to meet men for sex in exchange for money, the jury were told.

The court also heard on one occasion she even discussed sending explicit images to a man in return for cash while she was in hospital with seriously ill Lexi.

She wrote to one man: “‘If you put enough in we can meet and I will f**k you. Should fund my shopping.”

Following the death of Lexi, Porton had remained “particularly unemotional and detached”, according to the paramedics who attended the scene.

Opening the case, Oliver Saxby QC, prosecuting, said: “This case concerns the deaths of this defendant’s two young children. Their names are Lexi and Scarlett.

“Lexi was three years old when she died. Scarlett was 17 months old when she died. And they died within 18 days of each other.

“No doubt, being a young mother of two young children will have placed an enormous burden on the defendant; and, no doubt, she needed time to herself.

“But, in the context of what was later to happen – two unexplained deaths consistent with deliberate airway obstruction – it is hard not to draw the conclusion that, for the defendant, at times, her two children got in the way of her doing what she wanted, when she wanted and with whom she wanted.”

Police seized her phone after the children’s death and began to piece together the life she as leading, the court heard.

Saxby said: “This wasn’t a life in which caring for her two young children, indeed, having two young children to care for, always easily fitted.”

The court also heard Porton had messaged several males asking for them to put money into bank account in exchange for sexual images and offers of sex.

Reading out WhatsApp messages between Porton and users called “Jas” and “Jazz” prior to Lexi’s death, Mr Saxby said: “She sent sexual images and her sort code.

“She said ‘tell me how much you put in and I will do pictures’. ‘If you put enough in we can meet and I will f**k you. ‘Should fund my shopping’.”

Mr Saxby said examination of Porton’s phone records revealed searches for: “Can you actually die if blocked nose and forcibly closed mouth with tape.”

She also looked up: “For how long after drowning can someone be resuscitated?”, “How long does it take a dead body to go cold up to the shoulder?” and “five weird things that happen after you die”.

Police launched a probe after the death of both children who had no medical history which could explain their death.

Scarlett is said to have signs of “neck compression” when examined – and the prosecution argue the only one who could have “deliberately interfered with their breathing” is Porton.

She denies murder. The trial continues.

• Crime

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