Woman to be sentenced for infanticide of baby son and attempted murder of daughter

A 34-year old woman who caused the death of her eight-week old son and who attempted to murder her two-year old daughter will be sentenced for the double stabbing next week. The woman, who can't be named due to a reporting restriction, appeared at Belfast Crown Court on Tuesday where a senior prosecutor spoke of the 'catastrophic' consequences of her actions. Both her children were rushed to the Accident and Emergency department at the Royal Victoria Hospital for Sick Children on the evening of July 27, 2021. Whilst the young girl was successfully treated for her grave injuries, her baby brother did not survive. After he listened to oral submissions from both the Crown and defence, Mr Justice Fowler said he would pass sentence on charges of infanticide and attempted murder next Tuesday. Prior to this, the senior judge was addressed by Crown barrister Samuel Magee KC who spoke of the 'important context of events' leading to the fatal incident. He said that on July 24, 2021 the woman contacted the PSNI to report a domestic incident. She said her partner had pushed her and that she felt unsafe and as a result, he was arrested and removed from the family home. On the afternoon of July 27, a relative of the children's father called to the family home and later that day the woman wrote a series of entries in a diary. She wrote that she had chosen to take 'our lives' for everything her partner had done and asserted he had left them for another woman. The defendant also wrote in the diary about him not caring for her and their children and that she had chosen to take their lives so no-one could mock them any more. The entries also included expressions of love for him and a reference to waiting in heaven for him so they could be a happy family again. Turning to the evening of the incident, Mr Magee said the woman called her partner - who was in England - telling him he loved him and that she had just killed their baby son. During the call, she also said their daughter was 'lying slowly bleeding' and 'I am going to kill myself'. He immediately contacted police in England who alerted the PSNI. Before officers attended at the family home, she also called the PSNI and said she had killed her children. When police arrived at 8.15pm they found the woman bleeding from a neck wound and sitting on a bed in the living room cradling her wounded daughter who was screaming. The baby, who appeared lifeless, was lying on the bed and when officers attempted CPR, she told them 'I wouldn't worry about him. He's dead. I stabbed him'. Mr Magee said the baby boy sustained two wounds to his chest, one of which penetrated his heart. Despite the best efforts to save him, he was pronounced dead at 9pm. The prosecuting KC spoke of the 'grave injuries' inflicted upon the two-year old girl and said she was 'fortunate to survive'. Following her arrest, the children's mother was initially taken to the Mater Hospital where she was treated for self-inflicted injuries to her neck and chest. When she was discharged from hospital two days later, she was taken to Musgrave police station where she stated 'I killed my children ... I'm really sorry for what I have done'. Asked about her mental health and if she was depressed, the woman said 'depression 100%, I cry too much'. The woman also told police she was upset after speaking to her partner who told her he didn't want to see the children and that she wanted to kill herself and the youngsters so he could be happy with another woman. Regarding the woman's mental state both before and at the time of offending, Mr Magee said spoke of 'extensive' psychiatric and psychological evidence. After being examined at length by medics, a consultant forensic psychiatrist concluded the woman was suffering from an abnormality arising from a depressive episode. Noting multiple stressors at the time, the medical expert concluded that giving birth and post natal effects were additional and significant stressors. When this report was made available, a charge of infanticide was admitted by the woman and the charge of murdering her son was left on the books. As well as pleading to a charge of attempting to murder her daughter, the woman also admitted caused the death of her child aged under 12 months by a wilful act, namely stabbing and wounding him with a knife, but at a time when the balance of her mind was disturbed by reason of the fact that she had not fully recovered from the effect of giving birth to the child. Regarding the surviving child, Mr Magee said she was now in foster care. In the aftermath of the incident, the child was depressed, tense, rigid and displayed high-pitched screaming when stressed. She also experienced nose bleeds and intensive work was undertaken with her to explain why she had not seen her baby brother and mother. It also emerged that whilst it is likely that what happened will have a lasting impact on numerous aspects of her life. Mr Magee concluded by setting out aggravating factors which he said included the breach of trust as well as the tender age and vulnerability of both victims. He added it was accepted by the Crown that their mother was 'suffering from depression' to the extent that the balance of her mind was disturbed and that she was in a 'coercively controlling relationship' and was isolated at the time. Mr Justice Fowler was then addressed by defence barrister Charles MacCreanor KC on the issue of punishment. He said: 'Our submission is that, without doubt, the defendant is a female who has never stopped punishing herself for what she did and that is likely to remain the case for the rest of her life.' Mr MacCreanor said his both his client's poor mental health and being the victim of coercive control within her relationship at the time has been acknowledged by experts. Telling Mr Justice Fowler that his client has spent over five years in prison, Mr MacCreanor said that apart from a representative from Woman's Aid and her solicitor, she has not received any visitors during that period and has been isolated and subject to bullying. The defence barrister also spoke of his client being the victim of physical, financial and sexual abuse at the hands of her partner and said 'she was scared of him'. Now deceased, he had an extensive criminal record, had threatened the defendant and had a history of domestic incidents against other partners. Mr MacCreanor also told the court that police had information he had access to a firearm. This, the barrister said, compared to his client who had no previous convictions. He said there was 'no evidence she was anything other than a loving, caring mother up until the 27th of July, 2021' and spoke of her 'remorse, shame and confusion' about what she had done. After listening to both oral submissions, Mr Justice Fowler said he wanted to take some time to consider and reflect upon what he had heard. He said he would pass sentence at 10.30am next Tuesday and following this, the woman - who wept continually throughout the hearing - was remanded back into custody.