Belfast court: Mother accused of baby murder breaks down in court

Toys and flowers were left at the scene in 2021

A woman charged with murdering her baby and attempting to murder her toddler told a court that her life was "a nightmare".

Giving evidence at Belfast Crown Court, she said she was "beaten, assaulted, threatened, abused" by her partner.

Her trial, now in its fourth week, had to be stopped early after the woman broke down when asked to describe what she had done to her children.

She accepts she stabbed her children in 2021 but denies the charges.

She is charged with murdering her eight-week-old son and attempting to murder his sister on 27 July 2021.

The woman cannot be named to protect the identity of her surviving child.

She told the court she met her partner in 2018 and moved in with him two weeks later.

She claimed he would lock her in the house for several days at a time, sometimes with no food, and would regularly physically and sexually abuse her.

She alleged that on one occasion, when her baby was a week old, she was sexually abused by her partner while both her children slept in the same room.

When asked what her life was like with her partner, she replied: "Like in a dog cage".

She said: "My life was a nightmare."

"I was beaten, assaulted, threatened, abused."

'Life of horror'

The woman claimed her partner showed her footage of men with guns, and told her: "These are my friends."

She alleged he threatened her and her family.

The woman said she "urinated" herself because of how scared she was.

She said when she heard her partner turning the key in their front door she would think: "What will he do to me today? How will he abuse me today?"

The woman said that after the birth of her son she felt "really distressed" and had "no help, no support" and was "isolated".

A defence barrister told the jury that as well as murder and attempted murder, they should consider if the defendant might be guilty of infanticide or manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

He said they should consider not just what she did, but why she did it.

He told the court her life was "one of horror."

The barrister said: "She lived in fear that he would kill her.

"In a click of his fingers she would be gone, disappeared in seconds.

"It all came tumbling down around her and doing what she did was the only solution she could see."

The barrister asked the woman if she could remember what happened on the day of the stabbings.

She replied: "I remember what I did."

But after being asked to recount what she did to her daughter, the woman repeatedly broke down and the trial was halted for the day.

The trial continues.