Five-year-old drowned The Australian 22 August 2006

TUESDAY 22 August 2006.

John Stapleton

A woman who allegedly drowned her five-year-old son at his father's house did so on the anniversary of her own mother's suicide, family members said yesterday.

The alleged incident occurred shortly before 5 pm on Monday evening in an upmarket townhouse overlooking Gosford on the NSW Central Coast.

The 37-year-old woman's late model Suzuki remained in the driveway of the townhouse yesterday. The father, who had been separated from the mother for some time, is reported to have arrived home as the woman was drowning the child in the bath.

Ambulance officers who arrived at the scene following an emergency call were unable to revive the child, and the five-year-old boy was declared dead on arrival at Gosford Hospital.

The woman was due to appear at Gosford Local Court yesterday morning charged with murder of her five-year-old son, but did not appear in the dock.

The woman's lawyer Stuart Tipple told Gosford Local Court yesterday that his client did not wish to appear and was not applying for bail. He told the court that the mother had a history of psychiatric problems, including a history of self-harm, and requested that she be allowed to continue on her present psychiatric medication, which had not been made available to her in custody.

Magistrate Jim Swanson formally refused bail but agreed to continuation of the woman's medication. He also accepted the lawyer's recommendations that due to the nature of the alleged crime the woman be kept in protective custody. The magistrate also recommended a psychiatric review. The mother may be moved to a psychiatric institution following the assessment.

The woman's father and the dead child's grandfather said it had been a very difficult week. ``It is a tragedy for a person who has been under pressure for five years and on the anniversary of her mother's death she found it too hard to handle,'' he said.

Outside the court lawyer Mr Tipple confirmed the boy's death had occurred on the anniversary of his grandmother's suicide. ``This is just a tragedy,'' he said. ``It is not a case of looking to condemn or punish anyone. It is more a question of how we can help this lady and her family. We have a lady that needs help. I call upon everyone to show compassion and understanding.''

Neil Young, a neighbour of the father, said he had seen playing ball with his son on the weekends. ``He was a lovely little boy, nice little boy,'' he said. He said he had seen the woman walking about outside the townhouses in a white bathrobe at about 11am on the day of the incident. ``I thought it was a bit unusual,'' he said. ``I went to speak to her and she turned and didn't acknowledge I was there. That was an odd thing, she seemed very distant. I thought she must be worried about something.''

The NSW Coroner will conduct a post-mortem on the child's body to determine the cause of death. The woman is due appear in court again on 19th September.