Belfast mother to be sentenced for infant son's killing and daughter's attempted murder
A 34-year-old woman will be sentenced next Tuesday at Belfast Crown Court for stabbing her eight-week-old son to death and attempting to murder her two-year-old daughter in July 2021.
Belfast mother faces sentence over fatal stabbing of infant son and attack on daughter
A 34-year-old woman who stabbed her eight-week-old son to death and gravely wounded her two-year-old daughter will be sentenced next Tuesday at Belfast Crown Court, the Irish Times reports.
The woman, who cannot be named due to reporting restrictions, appeared in court on Tuesday. She pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of her daughter and to causing the death of a child under 12 months by a wilful act — stabbing — at a time when the balance of her mind was disturbed by reason of her not having fully recovered from the effects of giving birth.
Events of July 2021
Prosecuting barrister Samuel Magee told the court that on July 24th, 2021, three days before the fatal incident, the woman contacted the PSNI to report a domestic incident. She alleged her partner had pushed her and said she felt unsafe. The man was arrested and removed from the family home.
Three days later, the woman wrote a series of diary entries in which she stated her partner had left to be with another woman, that he did not care for her or the children, and that she had chosen to take their lives so no one would mock them any more. The entries also included expressions of love for her partner and a reference to waiting for him in heaven.
On the evening of July 27th, the woman telephoned her partner — who was in England at the time — telling him she loved him and that she had killed their son. She also told him their daughter was "lying slowly bleeding" and that she intended to take her own life.
The man contacted English police, who in turn alerted the PSNI. The woman had also called the PSNI herself, stating she had killed her children.
Police find wounded daughter, lifeless infant
Officers arrived at the address at 8.15pm. They found the woman, who was herself bleeding, cradling her wounded daughter, who was screaming. The infant boy was lying on a bed and appeared lifeless. When officers attempted CPR, the woman told them: "I wouldn't worry about him. He's dead. I stabbed him."
Both children were taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital for Sick Children. The boy had sustained two wounds to his chest, one of which penetrated his heart; he was pronounced dead at 9pm. The girl had sustained what Magee described as "grave injuries" but was, he said, "fortunate to survive".
The woman was initially taken to hospital to be treated for her own injuries. She was brought into custody two days later, after being discharged, and stated: "I killed my children... I'm really sorry for what I have done."
Depression and coercive control
A consultant forensic psychiatrist who examined the accused concluded she had been suffering from an abnormality of mind arising from a depressive episode. The expert said giving birth and postnatal effects were additional and significant stressors at the time.
Magee told the court that aggravating factors included the breach of trust involved and the vulnerability of the children. He acknowledged, however, that their mother had been "suffering from depression" and was in a "coercively controlling relationship" at the time of the incident.
Defence barrister Charles MacCreanor said his client "has never stopped punishing herself for what she did" and that this was likely to remain the case for the rest of her life. He said there had been no evidence she had been "anything other than a loving, caring mother" prior to July 27th, 2021, and that she felt "remorse, shame and confusion" over her actions.
MacCreanor said the woman had spent more than five years in custody since the incident and had received no visits other than from her solicitor and a representative of Women's Aid. He described her as a victim of physical, financial and sexual abuse at the hands of her partner, who has since died, and said she "was scared" of the man, who had a lengthy criminal record and a history of domestic incidents.
The woman's surviving daughter is currently in foster care. MacCreanor said intensive work had been carried out with the child to explain why she had not seen her baby brother or her mother.
The judge said he would pass sentence next Tuesday.
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Source: Irish Times