'Australia's worst mum' jailed for killing four children walks free after bombshell evidence

Kathleen Folbigg was released after bombshell evidence - ignored for 20 years - saw her set free in what is being called one of Australia's greatest miscarriages of justice

A woman who was convicted of killing four of her own children who all died suddenly has had her conviction quashed and is walking free after 20 years in jail.

Kathleen Folbigg was once branded Australia's worst mother after she was found guilty of murdering three children and the manslaughter of a fourth, but she has now been pardoned and freed by the state government after the evidence was found to be "not reliable".

Her children Caleb, Patrick, Sarah, and Laura - each of whom died suddenly between 1989 and 1999, aged between 19 days and 18 months; prosecutors alleged at trial that she had smothered them. The case relied on circumstantial evidence, to paint her as an unstable mother, prone to rage.

In 2003, she was sentenced to 40 years in jail for the murders of Sarah, Patrick and Laura, and the manslaughter of Caleb, which was downgraded to 30 years on appeal. Ms Folbigg lost a string of legal challenges that sought to overturn her convictions.

Earlier this year, a landmark inquiry into the 56 year old's case said there was reasonable doubt over her guilt, due to scientific findings that her children could have died of natural causes because of incredibly rare gene mutations. On Thursday, Chief Justice Andrew Bell announced she was cleared of all charges due to the substantial and extensive body" of new evidence.

Speaking after her convictions were quashed Ms Folbigg said: "I am grateful that updated science and genetics has given me answers as to how my children died. However, even in 1999, we had legal answers to prove my innocence. [Prosecutors] took my words out of context and turned them against me... I hope that no-one else will ever have to suffer what I suffered."

The children died separately over a decade, at between 19 days and 19 months old, and their mother insisted their deaths were from natural causes. Danish professors Professors Mette Nyegaard and Michael Toft Overgaard say they found that the genetic condition's symptom of irregular heart rhythm could have caused the young children's death.

During the initial trial, prosecutors used Miss Folbigg's handwritten diaries to convict her, claiming that they were admissions of guilt. Miss Folbigg has always insisted she is innocent and had appealed for another inquiry after evidence emerged following an investigation in 2019.

The previous inquiry upheld her conviction, but a 2019 report looked into the significance of the mutation. A total of 90 scientists called for Miss Folbigg to be pardoned based on the report by scientists Carola Vinuesa and Matthew Cook.