A New South Wales mother who stabbed her two young sons to death will not face criminal charges after a court determined she was suffering from major depression during the incident. The killings occurred in September 2024, with the woman making disturbing internet searches about suicide and child murder leading up to the event. Justice Richard Cavanagh found that due to her mental health condition, she could not understand the wrongfulness of her actions at the time.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-18,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
In September 2024, a woman from the Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia, stabbed to death her two sons aged nine and eleven. The court found that the woman was not criminally responsible for their deaths due to suffering from major depression at the time of the incident. Prior to the murders, she had conducted internet searches related to murder, suicide, and killing children. She had also written a letter seeking forgiveness and expressing concern about leaving her children alone in a difficult world without her support. The woman will now be detained in a location determined by the Mental Health Review Tribunal, following her plea of not guilty to charges of domestic violence murder.
Written for “Woman Found Not Criminally Responsible” on 2026-09-18,
grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
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A NSW mum who stabbed her two young sons to death will not be held criminally responsible for their murders after a court found she was suffering from major depression at the time.
The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, pleaded not guilty to murdering her two sons, aged nine and 11, in their home in September 2024.
She was taken to hospital under police guard with self-inflicted injuries before being charged with two counts of domestic violence murder.
asserted
She → see → murder
During a recent hearing in the NSW Supreme Court, it was revealed the woman had written a letter asking for forgiveness and that she couldn't 'leave her children alone in such a bad world without her support.'
She had also made a series of internet searches relating to murder, suicide, affairs, divorce and killing children in the month leading up to the murders, NewsWire reports.
asserted
NewsWire → reveal → murders
The court heard the woman had a good relationship with her ex-husband, with whom she shared two sons, but she had been told in early August that his new partner was pregnant.
On the day of the murders, she went shopping with her ex-husband and children and made a series of concerning web searches, including, 'When does the coroner get involved.
asserted
coroner → hear → searches
Later that evening, she sent the man a goodnight message and told him she loved him before searching online, 'How many parents kill kids each year in Australia.'
asserted
parents → send → Australia
The woman killed her two sons, aged nine and 11, in their NSW home in September 2024
Justice Richard Cavanagh found she could not be held criminally responsible due to her mental health condition
At some stage that evening, she killed the boys and injured herself.
The boys' bodies were found by their father the following afternoon after he received a notification that the children were absent from school.
uncertain
children → kill → school
He found the woman in a semiconscious state and asked her, 'What have you done?', 'What's wrong?' and 'Where are the (children)?', to which she replied: 'I killed them'.
asserted
I → find → them
He then called Triple Zero.
asserted
He → call → Zero
The woman was taken to hospital and later arrested.
asserted
woman → take → hospital
In the aftermath of the murders, the woman told a psychiatrist that she'd thought 'if her children died, then nothing could go wrong with them', the court was told.
uncertain
court → tell → them
On Thursday, Justice Richard Cavanagh ruled the woman did kill her two children, but was not criminally responsible under mental health legislation.
asserted
woman → rule → legislation
His judgment was supported by three psychiatric experts who provided reports and gave oral evidence to the court, stating the woman suffered from major depression at the time and did not know her actions were wrong.
asserted
actions → support → time
One expert also opined that the woman had experienced 'nihilism which completely distorted her judgement about the future'.
asserted
which → opine → future
The NSW Supreme Court also heard the woman had gone to an emergency department seeking help for insomnia and anxiety in the days before the murders
'Having regard to the updated reports of the psychiatric experts … I'm satisfied that at the time of killing her two children, the accused did not know that the act of stabbing them was wrong, in that she could not reason … as to whether those acts, as perceived by reasonable people, were wrong,' Justice Cavanagh told the court.
uncertain
Cavanagh → hear → people
It comes after the Director of Public Prosecutions previously agreed to enter a special verdict of not guilty by reason of mental impairment.
asserted
Director → come → impairment
NewsWire reports the woman, who had been beamed into court via an audiovisual link, kept her head down during the judgment and, at times, appeared to wipe away tears.
asserted
who → report → tears
She will now become a forensic patient at a location to be determined by a mental health tribunal.
asserted
She → become → tribunal
The woman will only be released into the community if the tribunal becomes satisfied that her release would not pose a danger to herself or others.
asserted
release → release → herself
The NSW Attorney-General and Minister for Health will also have to be heard on the matter.
asserted
General → have → matter
The Aporia
