A woman has gone on trial at Antrim Crown Court accused of the murder and attempted murder of her two young sons.
The 41-year-old, who cannot be identified, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of her son, who was two years and 10 months old, and the attempted murder of her other son, who was 11-months-old, on 2 March 2020.
Judge Patricia Smyth told the jury "there is no dispute" that the defendant stabbed the children but rather, "what is in dispute is her mental state at the relevant time".
Before the prosecution opened the trial, Judge Patricia Smyth warned the jury they had "to be prepared to hear evidence that may upset you". But, she said, as individuals and collectively, they had to set aside any sympathy, prejudice or emotion and assess the evidence in a calm way.
The jury heard that the woman had penned several notes on the morning of 2 March 2020, writing in one that she gave the children medication because "she didn't want them to experience pain".
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According to prosecution QC Charles MacCreanor, while doctors found that the defendant does suffer from some form of personality disorder or possibly autism, he told the jury they would hear evidence from doctors who treated her at the Shannon Clinic that she was "feigning symptoms".
"We naturally say that there is a compelling case here and evidence before you of the defendant committing murder and attempted murder," he submitted to the jury.
The trial heard that the day began in an entirely normal way at the family home. However, soon after one child would be dead and the other rushed to hospital for life saving surgery.
The boys' father received a text from the defendant asking if they "could talk" and when he suggested leaving the issue until after he finished work, the defendant sent him a message saying "f*** you".
"He ignored that," said the lawyer but he added that within the next 20 minutes, the father had received more text messages saying "I'm sorry", that she had killed the boys "and I'm dying".
"He immediately phoned her back and she answers the phone…and she says to him 'did you phone an ambulance' and then the phone's hung up," Mr MacCreanor told the jury.
Rushing to his home, he ran into the heavily blood-stained master bedroom where he found his bloodied partner on the bed and his children "just looking lifeless".
In a scene described by defence QC Kieran Mallon as "just carnage", the jury heard how the little boy who died had suffered stab wounds.
When police first arrived, his little brother was with his mother and was found to have suffered two puncture wounds. As the boy was taken from his mother by police, the jury heard how the 5" knife used to stab the children was being held between mother and son and an officer set it off to the side.
Mr MacCreanor told the jury the baby's wounds had come close to severing his jugular vein and that he had sustained a partial collapsed lung, adding that had his injuries not been treated, the little boy's injuries "were life threatening".
The defendant herself had also sustained injuries but her wounds were not life threatening.
Eventually questioned by police, she claimed she "had no memory of what might have happened to her children" and asked if she stabbed the boys to punish her partner, "she said she could not recall".
Turning to legal issues that the jury would have to focus on, Mr MacCreanor said there was "no question" the defendant stabbed her sons but the defence team had raised a "partial defence" that she was suffering from an abnormality of mind that substantially affected her thinking and perceptions of judgement.
He explained that if they were "firmly convinced" the defendant intended to kill or cause really serious harm, they would find her guilty but if they considered it "more likely than not" that she was suffering such a significant abnormality of mind that it affected her thinking, they would find her guilty of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.
The trial continues.
