Belfast mother who murdered son and attempted to kill daughter sentenced to 20 years in prison

PSNI Detective Inspector Gina Quinn with police statement after sentencing.

A Belfast mum who was found guilty of murdering her eight week old son and the attempted murder of her two-year-old daughter in July 2021 has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. 

The 31-year-old who cannot be named to protect the identity of the child who survived the knife attack in their Belfast home, sat in the dock with her face in her hands sobbing the whole time. 

Judge Donna McColgan KC told her this was an especially 'grave case'.

She outlined the trauma and the 'life long impact 'on the child who survived the knife attack and how she suffered 'significant terror' that day. 

The judge said she accepted the defendant had been in an abusive relationship and may have been suffering from moderate depression at the time. Addressing a sentencing hearing on Friday, Judge McColgan said: “I have concluded that she is a dangerous offender within the terms of the legislation.” She added: “But for the intervention of police who attended at the scene, the medical staff at the house and the hospital, we would currently be dealing with the deaths of two very young children.” The judge asked that her remarks about the actions of police officers be passed on to PSNI chief constable Simon Byrne.

The court was told the daughter, who is now in foster care, has been left feeling 'unsafe, sad, terrified and anxious' and it's been observed the young girl 'reenacts the incident in her play, gesturing stabbing a doll'.

When asked by a detective what she was thinking at the time, she said: "I wanted to kill all three, all of us so that (their father) could have a happy life together with his new woman.

"This was the only solution that came to my mind."

The woman claimed her life was like a 'dog in a cage' and she was the victim of serious coercive control and was physically and sexually abused. 

But the prosecution claim she stabbed her son and daughter out of 'spite and animosity' because her partner had left her for another woman. 

During Friday's tariff hearing the defence told the Judge this was a 'tragedy of immense proportions' and the woman was 'grateful to those who have care of her child' that survived. 

The judge commended the tireless and relentless efforts of the emergency services to save both young children.

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