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A Sydney mother has been charged with the murder of her five-year-old son and the attempted murder of his two younger siblings after an alleged stabbing attack inside a Blue Mountains car on Sunday.
The 42-year-old woman, who was found with self-inflicted wounds after allegedly stabbing her three children, appeared before Penrith Local Court on Tuesday.
She was charged with the murder of her five-year-old son, who died in the car near Springwood on Sunday afternoon. She also faces two counts of intending to murder and causing grievous bodily harm to the boy’s siblings, aged one and three.
The horrific scene was discovered by passing cyclists who administered life-saving first aid to the two children before they were rushed to Westmead Hospital in a critical condition.
The mother appeared in court via video link from her bed in Westmead Hospital, where she has remained under police guard. She was refused bail to appear at Penrith Local Court on November 20. The woman was not known to police.
Detectives are investigating whether an argument between the children’s parents was the catalyst for the attack, police sources told the Herald.
The father, who was at work at the time of alleged attack, rushed to Westmead Hospital, where he has supported his surviving children as they continue their recovery. Both children were in a critical but stable condition on Tuesday.
The boy’s death was the fourth alleged domestic violence-related killing across NSW over the weekend, sparking an urgent plea from police for the NSW government to throw every available resource at the problem.
A 23-year-old woman was fatally stabbed in her Wagga Wagga home on Saturday morning, allegedly at the hands of her partner. Hours later, an elderly woman in Bondi was allegedly stabbed to death by her grandson, who was allegedly suffering side effects of the weight loss drug Ozempic.
Then on Saturday night, police discovered a 70-year-old woman decapitated at a property in Mole Creek in the state’s north. The woman’s son was refused bail on Monday, with the judge describing the attack as “horrific”.
NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Peter McKenna on Monday said, “I can’t remember a weekend like this in my career”.
“It is really overwhelming.”
McKenna said more services were needed to intervene before domestic violence incidents reached police, including in the health, education and justice systems.
“It’s a whole of societal issue, domestic violence,” he said.
“It is an issue that everyone needs to speak up about, government needs to make sure they’re throwing every resource at.”
NSW Premier Chris Minns vowed to increase spending on domestic violence prevention measures.
“We can’t become numb to the pain or the violence that we see. We still need to take action and commit ourselves across government agencies … to confront domestic violence when we see it, and ensure that we’re doing all available changes or making all available changes to keep people safe,” he said on Monday.
One woman was killed by an intimate partner every 11 days in 2024-25, according to recent data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732), the Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491, Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.
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Daniel Lo Surdo is a breaking news reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. He previously helmed the national news live blog for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email.From our partners
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