A man who killed two of his children and murdered his new girlfriend six years later will serve at least 40 years in prison after being handed three life sentences. Jordan Monaghan, 30, from Blackburn, was described by a judge as “an exceptionally controlling, selfish and cruel man”. A jury found that Monaghan, a manipulative and controlling gambling addict, obstructed the airways of his children in separate murders in January and August 2013. Their deaths were initially treated as sudden and unexplained. Monaghan’s daughter, Ruby, was just 24 days old when she died on New Year’s Day. Her brother, Logan, was 21 months old when he died on 17 August. At the time, Ruby’s death was attributed to bronchiolitis and Logan’s cause of death remained “unascertained”. Monaghan gave interviews after the deaths and he suggested the children may have been born with genetic abnormalities. His fiance at the time, Laura Gray, said then that the couple had decided not to have any more children until they received the results of genetic testing. She could be heard weeping in the public gallery on Friday as the jury returned guilty verdicts. Afterwards she told LancsLive: “All I ever wanted was to be a mum. I wanted to give children the love and opportunities I never had growing up. Jordan knew how much I wanted that … I will never be the same person again. When the children went a huge part of me went with them.” Six years after Ruby and Logan died, Monaghan murdered his new girlfriend, Evie Adams, poisoning her with prescription drugs on 24 October 2019. He faked a suicide note to deflect attention from his latest crime. Monaghan killed because he could not face rejection by his partners, Preston crown court heard during his 10-week trial. The 30-year-old construction worker denied all three murders, as well as twice attempting to kill a third child in September and October 2016, again by obstructing their breathing. The court heard Monaghan smothered Ruby as she slept in her Moses basket when he was alone with the child as her mother slept upstairs at the family home. Eight months later, after Gray discovered her boyfriend owed thousands of pounds in gambling debts, she told him the relationship was over. The next day he took Logan to a local swimming pool, Waves, in Blackburn. While alone in a cubicle in the changing rooms he smothered the child, the jury heard. Both children had been seen by medics in the days and months before their deaths, but other than usual childhood illnesses no serious medical condition was found. A review was carried out by Lancashire police after further information came to light and Monaghan was arrested and bailed on suspicion of murder in January 2018. As the complex police investigation continued, Monaghan began a “toxic” relationship with 23-year-old Adams, who had suffered “chronic abuse” before being put into foster care at age 12. Police warned her not to be with him and a court order was made banning contact. But the relationship continued and, while on bail for the murder of his children, Monaghan killed her after she threatened to dump him. Monaghan told her: “I won’t keep putting up with you saying we are over.” The defendant bought strong prescription drugs on the illegal market via WhatsApp and other contacts. Over a five-day period, Monaghan administered tramadol, diazepam, amitriptyline, zopiclone and pregabalin to her until she overdosed and died. He faked a suicide note, discovered apparently by chance falling out of a picture frame as he removed the couple’s favourite photo of themselves to place in her coffin. Monaghan was rearrested in January this year and charged with all three murders. He claimed to have nothing to do with the death of his children, but a dozen experts told the court that while the exact cause of the deaths was difficult to pinpoint, imposed airway obstruction was either “likely” or could not be ruled out. Passing sentence, Mr Justice Goose told Monaghan: “Your victims were your children, then your partner. It is difficult to know why you carried out these offences. Having listened to the evidence in this trial, in short you are an exceptionally controlling, selfish and cruel man. “The trigger to these offences were your volatile relationships. The consequences were the snuffing out of the lives of two very young children and a young woman.” Monaghan must serve 40 years before he is eligible for parole and will remain on licence for the rest of his life.