A Perth mother who endangered the lives of her children by holding their heads under water has been given a prison sentence, and been banned from ever contacting them again.
Key points:
- The woman admitted holding the heads of her children underwater
- She has been jailed for four-and-a-half years
- The children, aged under 10, suffered psychological harm
The woman, who can't be named for legal reasons, held her son and daughter under water in an inflatable pool on separate occasions in late 2020 or early 2021.
Supreme Court Justice Natalie Whitby said she had grabbed her nine-year-old son and submerged him, and held him so he couldn't breathe.
Justice Whitby told the court the woman's daughter came outside and said: "What are you doing to him? You shouldn't be doing that, he's only young."
The court heard the boy did not lose consciousness.
His sister helped him out of the pool and later showered him to warm him up.
Some time after the incident with the son, the mother did something similar with the daughter, who was aged seven or eight.
The girl was wearing goggles and a snorkel when she was chased, and her head held under water.
She did not lose consciousness.
The court heard the woman had problems with alcohol and had suffered post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of childhood experiences, with her own parents having struggled with alcohol abuse.
The court was told the children had suffered psychologically, becoming angry at small things and struggled to understand what had happened to them.
Children suffer 'psychological damage'
Defence lawyer Simon Freitag SC said while the "actual physical harm is low" his client accepted there had been "psychological and emotional damage".
Justice Whitby said the children were physically small and young at the time, and were entitled to their mother's love and protection.
"You were in a position of trust as their mother," she said.
Justice Whitby referred to "sustained verbal abuse" which the boy had suffered, evidenced in covert recordings.
The court had heard the woman had made derogatory comments about the boy, saying she didn't want him, and saying she would "kick him in the head".
But Justice Whitby said the woman had shown "exemplary behaviour" in prison while waiting for her sentencing and had contacted organisations seeking counselling.
"You now feel genuine remorse for your offending," she said.
Justice Whitby noted the woman had a moderate chance of reoffending if she didn't address her alcohol use.
However, Justice Whitby said she had a "reasonable expectation of useful life" after her sentence.
The woman had pleaded guilty to endangering the life, health or safety of a person, and unlawfully doing an act which was likely to endanger the life, health or safety of a person.
The total effective sentence handed down on the two charges was four years and six months.
The woman has spent 560 days in prison and will be eligible for parole in October 2024.
Lifetime violence restraining orders were imposed on the mother in relation to the children.