The conviction of a lady who was dubbed “Australia’s worst mother” for the deaths of her four children has been overturned.
The evidence Kathleen Folbigg was first given to justify her jail term was deemed “not reliable” by the Supreme Court of New South Wales on Thursday.
After serving 20 years in jail, the 56-year-old was released from prison in June after receiving a pardon from the state.
Though she stated evidence of her innocence had been “ignored and dismissed” for decades, Ms. Folbigg appreciated the most recent news.
She remarked outside of court on Thursday, “The system preferred to blame me rather than accept that sometimes children can and do die suddenly, unexpectedly, and heartbreakingly.”
One of the biggest miscarriages of justice in Australian history has been called Ms. Folbigg’s case.
It dealt with the unexpected deaths of her four young children, Laura, Sarah, Patrick, and Caleb, who ranged in age from 19 days to 18 months, between 1989 and 1999. At her trial, the prosecution said she had smothered them.
The case was based on circumstantial evidence, portraying Ms. Folbigg as an unstable and irrational mother based on her journals, which were never reviewed by psychologists or psychiatrists.
She was given a 40-year prison term in 2003 for the manslaughter of Caleb and the killings of Sarah, Patrick, and Laura.
After an appeal, the sentence was subsequently reduced to 30 years, but Ms. Folbigg was unsuccessful in her attempts to have her convictions overturned.
As a result of scientific evidence suggesting her children might have died naturally from extremely uncommon DNA mutations, a historic investigation into her case earlier this year came to the conclusion that there was substantial doubt regarding her culpability.
Chief Justice Andrew Bell stated that Ms. Folbigg was exonerated of all charges on Thursday as a result of the “substantial and extensive body” of fresh evidence.
The amount of the compensation that Ms. Folbigg’s legal team would now pursue on her behalf was not disclosed.
Due to the case, Australia’s judicial system has come under fire for allegedly being sluggish to adapt to advances in science and gaining international attention.
“I am grateful that updated science and genetics has given me answers as to how my children died,” said Ms Folbigg.
But we had legal evidence to support my innocence even in 1999.
“My statements were misconstrued by the prosecution, who used them against me. I sincerely hope that no one would ever have to go through what I went through.”
