Mum who stabbed baby twice in heart jailed for 20 years

Toys and flowers were left outside the scene of the stabbings in 2021

A woman who murdered her eight-week old son and attempted to murder his two-year-old sister has been jailed for a minimum of 20 years.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, accepted she stabbed the children in Northern Ireland on 27 July 2021 but had denied the charges.

In a statement, the children's father said: "Words cannot describe what my family and I have been through.

"We never got to see my son grow up but will never forget him."

The woman was convicted at Belfast Crown Court in March.

She was given an automatic life sentence and her minimum term has now been set.

'Spite and animosity'

During the trial a prosecution barrister put to the defendant that she had stabbed her children out of "spite and animosity" against her partner, which she denied.

A psychiatrist told the trial the woman told him: "He destroyed my life so I destroyed his."

After the woman stabbed the children she made five phone calls, including one to the children's father, telling him their daughter was "lying slowly bleeding".

It was only after this call that she phoned 999, telling police: "I killed my kid for him."

The woman was sentenced at Belfast Crown Court

Both children were taken to the emergency department at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children and were treated as they lay side-by-side.

The young girl was successfully treated for a stab wound to her chest but her baby brother was later pronounced dead.

After her arrest the defendant made the case that she stabbed her children and then turned the knife on herself as she wanted them all to die together.

'Lifelong effect'

During police interview the woman detailed how she had lifted a knife to stab her baby but then stopped after he looked at her and smiled.

She said she kissed both children, told them they "would always be in her heart", then stabbed the baby twice through the heart.

A doctor who treated the little girl said her stab wound was "as close to penetrating the heart as you can get" and that she was "a very lucky little girl".

On Friday the court was told of the lasting impact witnessing her brother's death had on the girl, who is now four and who lives with foster carers.

A clinical psychologist's report found she had been observed "re-enacting" the incident through play, both in her foster placement and at nursery - where she was seen stabbing a toy doll with play scissors.

The court was told she had suffered "significant terror" and "the most serious breach of trust from the person who should have cared for her the most".

The girl has been left feeling "unsafe, confused, sad, stressed, terrified and anxious" - and that what she went through will have "a lifelong effect", the court heard.

'Dog in a cage'

The woman previously made references to her partner's use of drink and drugs, and also claimed that he beat and sexually abused her.

She described her relationship as making her feel like "a dog in a cage" and said stabbing the children and herself was her only chance to "escape him".

The court heard that her partner was not at home at the time of the stabbings. He had been excluded from the family home following an allegation of assault against the defendant three days previously.

On Friday Judge Donna McColgan said evidence read to the jury regarding the woman's partner made it clear that he was "a most unsavoury character".

Det Insp Gina Quinn says the murder of the baby boy was "senseless and tragic"

Judge McColgan said the breach of trust in the case was "exceptionally high" and that the defendant was suffering from "mild to moderate depression" at the time of the attacks.

She said it was an "exceptionally grave case".

Judge McColgan also paid tribute to the "tireless and unrelenting" work of Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officers who attended the scene and tried to save the lives of both children.

Speaking to reporters after court, police officer Det Insp Gina Quinn said that a tiny, innocent life was taken in "senseless and tragic" circumstances.

She added that the family had lost an opportunity to see one of the children grow up, while the surviving child has lost her brother.

"There is nothing I can do or say that will undo this loss or begin to ease their pain," she added.

"My thoughts, and that of the investigation team, are with the surviving child, the family and the wider community who have all been affected."