A mother who stabbed her eight-week-old baby son twice through his heart has been told she must serve at least 20 years in prison for the murder.
The 31-year-old was also given a concurrent sentence at Belfast Crown Court for the attempted murder of her two-year-old daughter.
The defendant, who cannot be named due to reporting restrictions, wept in the dock as the sentence was delivered by Judge Donna McColgan KC.
The mother stabbed her children in their Belfast home on the evening of Tuesday, July 27th, 2021, and whilst her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter survived, her eight-week-old son died.
She had accepted she stabbed the children but denied the charges. She was convicted of murder and attempted murder in March.
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.
“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.
Setting out the background to the case, the judge said police had attended the defendant’s home after receiving a phone call from her partner.
She said they discovered a “harrowing scene” at the house.
The officers found the defendant sitting on the bed holding her screaming daughter by the head. The baby boy was on the bed in a lifeless state.
A police constable made repeated attempts to administer CPR to the baby.
The judge said the constable had given evidence during the trial that the mother had said to him: “I wouldn’t worry about him, he’s dead. I stabbed him.”
Judge McColgan said the woman had made allegations of abuse about her partner and he had been excluded from the home.
Police seized a diary written by the defendant from the kitchen.
The judge said one entry read: “I choose to take our lives for everything you did to us. You got to the point of leaving your children for another woman.”
A defence barrister told the court the case was a “tragedy of immense proportions”.
PSNI Det Insp Gina Quinn said it had been a “totally distressing case”.
She said: “Police, who were called to a house in Belfast that evening, found the woman with her two injured children.
“The baby boy, who was just eight weeks old, had sustained two stab wounds to his chest.
“Paramedics transferred the little one to hospital but, tragically, he was pronounced dead later that evening.
“The young girl had also been stabbed in the chest.
“She was transferred to hospital and survived, thanks to emergency, life-saving surgery.
“Both children had been stabbed by their mother – a parent who should, of course, have been loving, caring and protecting.
“This has been a totally distressing case.
“A tiny and innocent life was taken in senseless and tragic circumstances.
“I would like to thank our partners in the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service and the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children who fought so hard to try and save the lives of both children.
“The family have had their whole world turned upside down.
“They have 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.
“My thoughts, and that of the investigation team, are with the surviving child, the family and the wider community who have all been affected.”
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.” – PA