The British parents of two children who died of horrific injuries in a fire while they enjoyed a romantic evening downstairs have been jailed for child cruelty.
Lindsey Miller (33) and her 29-year-old husband Scott were jailed for two years and 12 months respectively when they appeared at Northampton Crown Court.
Their sons, Nathan (2 1/2) and 18-month-old Jeremy, suffered 80 per cent burns in the blaze in the bedroom of their Northampton council house in June 2004.
Nathan is thought to have started the fire at the family home which killed him and his brother.
Sentencing the pair, Judge Richard Bray said they had been "selfish" in locking the boys in their bedroom.
He rejected their claims that their low intelligence was a factor in the boys' deaths, saying they had encouraged or condoned Nathan in playing with matches, showing him off to friends as a "party trick".
The couple were each found guilty of two counts of neglect following a trial at Northampton Crown Court.
Sentencing, Judge Bray told Lindsey Miller: "I am satisfied you encouraged Nathan, aged two, to play with matches as some kind of party trick. You continued to allow him access to matches even after you had been warned by neighbours and your mother.
"You effectively locked the children in their rooms by means of reversing the door handle and fastening of a tie. This was done for your own selfish reasons so you would not be disturbed."
The court has heard that the couple both had IQs of just 66, putting them in the bottom 2 per cent of the general public. Scott Miller is also an alcoholic, leaving Lindsey to cope with the children on her own, defence counsel added.
Both Millers stood sobbing in the dock of the court as the judge added: "I understand the problems that you have been faced with but this tragedy was not caused by lack of understanding or inadequacy but by selfishness. These courts have a duty to seek to protect young and vulnerable children, even from their own parents."