Police allege mother stabbed three children in Blue Mountains leaving one child dead

4 hours ago 8

Police have alleged that a mother was behind a stabbing attack on three young children that left one dead and two others fighting for their lives in hospital.

The woman, aged in her 40s, is also in a critical condition.

Bystanders were first on the scene after finding the three children and the woman with stab wounds inside a vehicle at Valley Heights in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, on Sunday afternoon.

One young child died at the scene despite witnesses rushing to help, delivering first aid while waiting for emergency services to arrive.

The alleged domestic violence incident came at the end of a horror weekend across New South Wales, after three women were allegedly murdered inside their homes within a 12-hour period on Saturday.

The police deputy commissioner Peter McKenna described the past two days as devastating.

“It’s a horrific and tragic weekend and it’s like one that I don’t remember in my career,” he told Nine’s Today on Monday.

“Those three … plus the no-more-tragic situation that we had in the Blue Mountains. Put them all together and it’s unfathomable.”

Paramedics treated the mother and children at the scene on Sunday before taking them by road to Westmead hospital and Westmead Children’s hospital in a critical condition.

“The two children and their mother are in a critical condition,” McKenna said.

“The mother is the suspect in this matter, for domestic related homicide, and that investigation is ongoing.”

McKenna told reporters on Monday the woman remained in a critical condition and police had “to wait for the medical side to play out”.

“If she recovers from those injuries, certainly our people … will be intent on charging [her] with homicide,” he said.

Hours after the incident, NSW police Supt John Nelson said the father of the children had been notified.

The father had been at work when he received the call from police, he said.

“You can imagine receiving that tragic news,” Nelson told reporters.

McKenna said the father was immediately taken to hospital. “He’s supporting these two children that are in a pretty good condition at the moment. He’s assisting us with the investigation,” he said.

He said the woman had not previously come to the attention of police and that investigators were not looking for anyone else in relation to the incident.

The woman was aged in her 40s and the children were all under five. All three had undergone surgery in hospital.

Nelson praised the efforts of the “upstanding” members of the public who responded to the tragic scene.

“People are just going about a lovely Sunday afternoon, and being confronted with this is traumatic and tragic for anybody,” he said.

Responding officers would not be spared the hardship and would have access to available support services.

Police said the weapon used and the circumstances surrounding the incident would form part of their investigation.

Blue Mountains councillor Darren Rodrigo on Sunday described the news as “absolutely horrendous and tragic”.

“Our deepest love and condolences to the immediate family and our prayers with all the children involved,” he said.

“A massive thank you to the community members [who] intervened to provide medical assistance and to our first responders for their incredible support and courage during this time.”

‘Knives or edged weapons were used’

Separately, McKenna said the weekend had been “tragic and horrific … in relation to domestic violence”, referring to three other alleged homicides in NSW.

“We’ve had four incidents, one at Wagga, one at Tenterfield, one at Bondi and … terrible scenes at the Blue Mountains yesterday,” he said. He said police would allege that in all four incidents “knives or edged weapons were used”.

“It’s actually very, very confronting,” McKenna told reporters.

None of the alleged offenders involved in the incidents over the weekend had any apprehended violence orders taken out on them, McKenna said.

“It is really overwhelming. None of those relationships were known to us for domestic violence, there were no AVOs in place,” he said.

“They weren’t on our radar at all. It’s a whole societal issue … that everyone needs to speak up about. The government needs to make sure they’re throwing every resource at it.”

The NSW premier, Chris Minns, told reporters on Monday: “This is confronting … but we can’t become numb to the pain or the violence that we see, we still need to take action.”

“My thoughts are with the families and loved ones of the women who have died, and the communities affected by these events,” Minns said in a statement.

The state opposition leader, Kellie Sloane, said she was horrified by the deaths, which were “hard to come to terms with”.

“Something is broken and we’re failing women in our state and our country,” she told ABC TV. “It’s a national crisis.”