the times | Saturday December 18 2021 33
News
younger pair went to a local nursery.
Jason said his son had not been able
to sleep during the night after the trage-
dy and was waiting for an update from
police about the cause of the fire.
Neighbours described the twins as
“always holding hands” and being “well
behaved” and “polite”.
Chief Superintendent Dave Stringer
said: “Our London Fire Brigade
colleagues acted heroically in
recovering the children and I want to
pay particular tribute to them. I know
this incident will have a lasting impacton them and on the police and para-
medics who are involved. We will make
sure they get the support they need.”
Richard Mills, deputy commissioner
of the London Fire Brigade, said that
the children were inside the terrace
house when the fire brigade arrived. He
said firefighters in breathing apparatus
entered the home, removed the four
children and gave them CPR.
They were then taken to two south
London hospitals where they were pro-
nounced dead. “Entering a building and
rescuing life is always a very difficultThe mother of two sets of young twins
who died in a house fire told neighbours
she had been shopping when the blaze
swept through their home.
Kyson and Bryson Hoath, four, and
their three-year-old brothers Leyton
and Logan were alone in the house
when the blaze was reported at 6.55pm
on Thursday. Their mother, Deveca
Rose, an NHS carer, was seen arriving
home in Sutton, south London, at about
8.30pm, said neighbours.
A 27-year-old woman arrested on
suspicion of child neglect was being
questioned by police yesterday. Police
and firefighters are investigating the
cause of the fire.
A passer-by described how she had
tried to help firefighters resuscitate the
boys, who were dressed in their coats,
after they were pulled from the burning
house. “They were in a row on the
pavement and the firemen were trying
to resuscitate them,” said the woman,
who asked not to be identified. “They
said that one of them was still moving.
The firemen did the best they could.”
The children’s father, Dalton Hoath,
28, arrived at the house shortly after the
mother, saying he had learnt of the fire
on Facebook.
The woman said: “He was in shock.
He just started to run.”
Hoath’s father, Jason, 51, a security
guard who is also a safety official at
AFC Wimbledon football club, said his
grandchildren had been looking
forward to Christmas with presents
under a tree. He said his “amazing,
smart and beautiful grandsons” were
known as The Quads.
The two oldest boys were pupils at
Westbourne Primary School while the
Neighbours
said they saw
Deveca Rose,
the mother of
the boys, arrive
at the houseplace to be,” he said. “The age of the
children, the fact they are so young, will
have a profound impact on [firefight-
ers].” Video footage showed flames
from the front door and there were
local rumours the fire could have been
started by Christmas lights.
Eight fire engines and about 60 fire-
fighters were called to the scene and the
fire was under control by 8.36pm.
Superintendent Rob Shepherd of the
Metropolitan Police said: “At this very
early stage the cause of the fire is
unknown and will be investigated.”Mother of four boys killed in
house fire ‘was out shopping’
David Brown
Two sets of twins, Kyson and Bryson, and Leyton and Logan, died in the fire in Sutton. The cause is yet to be establlshedVirtual cash
bid to buy
football club
Tom Knowles
Technology CorrespondentA group of American investors are
looking to use cryptocurrency to buy a
football club in the UK.
The group, called WAGMI United,
are said to be in advanced stages of ac-
quiring a League One or League Two
club, saying that the English Football
League has been “surprisingly progres-
sive” in its conversations about a deal.
WAGMI United told The Washington
Post that they plan to “create a new
model of sports team ownership” by
selling virtual pieces of the club to fans
as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which
act like digital certificates of ownership
for physical or virtual assets.
NFTs are stored on a digital ledger
called a blockchain that can be viewed
by anyone and cannot be forged
because any sale or purchase is main-
tained and certified by thousands of
computers around the world.
The investors did not say which club
was involved. If successful, the inves-
tors would be the first group to buy a big
sports franchise with cryptocurrency
as the main funding source.
Rumours circulated on social media
that the team in question was Bradford
City in League Two. Stefan Rupp, the
club chairman, denied a takeover was
happening, but admitted a bid had been
made by the group. “I received an email
from a representative of the WAGMI
United group with an offer to purchase
Bradford City AFC. That is all I have re-
ceived, nothing more, and no further
action has taken place, ” he said.
The WAGMI United group is led by
Eben Smith, a former derivatives trader
who now specialises in NFTs, and Pres-
ton Johnson, a sports gambling analyst.
The group, who have no background
in football, told The Washington Post
that the traditional ownership model of
clubs in the UK is “broken”. They plan
to use money generated by NFTs to “in-
vest in analytics” and outspend oppo-
nents to eventually get their team into
the Premier League.
Ryan Reynolds, the actor, and his
friend Rob McElhenney took full con-
trol of the Welsh football club Wrex-
ham in February this year from the
club’s Supporters Trust. They are
investing £2 million as part of the deal.