Woman changes plea and will now face life after child witness' evidence

A WOMAN who left her four-year-old stepson with injuries that would typically be associated with car crashes or serious assaults has pleaded guilty to the child's murder on the fourth day of her trial.

- BY EOIN REYNOLDS

The child's mother, who attended throughout the trial, will make a statement to the court before the sentence is passed.

In her opening speech, prosecutor Anne Rowland said she told gardai she kept the boy in his room in the days prior to his death, where he had to sit on the floor and was only allowed out for the bathroom or for emergencies.

The defendant told gardai that on the day the boy suffered his fatal injuries, she "snapped" and recalled "shaking him and screaming at him" before he fell.

In November last year, the child's father was jailed for seven years for endangerment, neglect and impeding the apprehension or prosecution of the stepmother, knowing or believing she murdered his son.

Authorities became aware of the abuse when the father called 999 on March 13, 2021, claiming the boy hurt his head by falling off a bunk bed.