A mother suffering from a personality disorder has been jailed for five years for killing her two-year-old son.
Hazel Waters, 47, of Ridge Hall in Ballybrack pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Muhammad Hassan Khan between 15 and 16 October 2014.
The young boy, described as a "lovely, happy, two-and-a-half year old", was found dead in the bedroom of their home on 16 October.
Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy imposed a seven-year prison sentence but suspended the final two years.
The sentencing hearing at Central Criminal Court in Dublin last week heard that Ms Waters was suffering from a personality disorder that diminished her responsibility for the killing.
She sent a text on the morning of the killing describing the little boy as a "fake child" and saying "they are making people and children to look the same".
The alarm was raised when later that day Waters arrived at her sister-in-law's house without Hassan and could not say where he was.
Gardaí discovered the little boy's body in the bedroom of Waters' apartment. He had suffered multiple wounds to his neck from a pair of scissors.
Waters told gardaí she could not remember harming the child. She also said she would never harm him and did not know what happened to him.
She could not remember sending the texts describing him as a fake child and a clone.
The court heard Waters' family had become concerned about her mental health in the weeks before the killing.
The court also heard she had had a difficult relationship with her former husband, Hassan's father. She said he assaulted her while pregnant and had attempted to strangle her on two occasions.
Waters' sister Olivia told the court last week they had lost Hassan in the most upsetting circumstances. She also said they felt anger at social services for not intervening, guilty because they wonder if they could have done more to help, and shame from having the killing discussed in the media.
She said Hazel loved Hassan very much and would not have harmed him if she was in her right mind.
And she said they loved and cared for their sister in her recovery. But she said they had suffered a double tragedy as they had lost Hassan and their sister.
Waters' older son and Hassan's brother, Jessie said his mother had struggled for help and support. Her Senior Counsel, Brendan Grehan said Waters needed ongoing treatment and supervision.
The court was told she was suffering from an underlying personality disorder which in acute circumstances could give rise to a psychotic state and was in such a state at the time of the killing.
Mr Justice McCarthy said social services were in contact with Waters and very considerable efforts were made to contact her and engaged with her.
Part of the reason she did not do so was connected with the disorder she suffered from.
The judge said Waters had refused to engage in any meaningful explanation of what had happened.
He said the balance of medical opinion suggested her refusal to admit culpability or the details of what had happened was due to the nature of her disorder.
Doctors in the Central Mental Hospital said she had consistently refused to discuss the alleged offence and had only engaged in a superficial manner with efforts to address her offending behaviour.
Mr Justice McCarthy said the appropriate sentence for such an offence was eight to ten years.
He said the only mitigating factor was her plea of guilty to manslaughter and he imposed a seven-year sentence.
He suspended the final two years of the sentence, saying it was in her interests and in society's interests to have her returned to society in a structured manner.
