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| Mother detained for child deaths | Mother detained for child deaths |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| A pregnant mother has been committed to a psychiatric hospital after admitting the manslaughter of two of her children. | A pregnant mother has been committed to a psychiatric hospital after admitting the manslaughter of two of her children. |
| Sasikala Navaneethan, 36, of Carshalton, south London, killed her five-year-old son and four-year-old daughter by cutting their throats. | Sasikala Navaneethan, 36, of Carshalton, south London, killed her five-year-old son and four-year-old daughter by cutting their throats. |
| She also pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of her six-month-old daughter who survived the attacks. | She also pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of her six-month-old daughter who survived the attacks. |
| After the assaults in May 2008 she drank poison to try to kill herself. | After the assaults in May 2008 she drank poison to try to kill herself. |
| She said she stabbed and cut the throats of her son Shanjayan and daughter Sharani, and her baby girl Trishana, because she did not want to leave them behind. | |
| Civil war | |
| The Old Bailey heard she was unable to cope as her husband Navarajah, 39, ran a convenience store, working from 0630 to 2300 at the shop and off licence in Brighton Road, Croydon. | The Old Bailey heard she was unable to cope as her husband Navarajah, 39, ran a convenience store, working from 0630 to 2300 at the shop and off licence in Brighton Road, Croydon. |
| Mr Navaneethan told police their family life was happy and the local medical centre said his wife had never complained of mental problems. | Mr Navaneethan told police their family life was happy and the local medical centre said his wife had never complained of mental problems. |
| But the court heard Mrs Navaneethan had suffered a breakdown when she was about 18, during the Sri Lankan civil war, before coming to Britain. | |
| She told psychiatrists she had been suffering from depression after Trishana's birth and having delusions. | |
| You need treatment rather than punishment Judge Brian Barker | |
| Dr Paul Chesterman said she had reacted to her domestic situation, sense of isolation and because of her mental illness. | |
| The Common Serjeant, Judge Brian Barker, told Mrs Navaneethan: "This is a profoundly sad and tragic case. | |
| "It seems to me your turmoil and your actions are virtually impossible for an outsider to understand. | |
| "This is the case of a sick person who continues to be sick now. You need treatment rather than punishment." | |
| David Etherington QC, for the defendant, said cultural expectations may have resulted in Mrs Navaneethan being unable to tell her GP she was mentally unwell. | |
| "She believed there was no point in her living any longer and she could not leave the children with her husband," he said. | |
| Mrs Navaneethan had responded to medication and was filled with terrible guilt about what she had done, he added. |