TRAGEDY: River search for 5yo boy as mum charged with attempted murder
A woman has been charged with the attempted murder of her nine-year-old son while her younger son, five, is missing, feared dead.
The 27-year-old woman, who can not be named for legal reasons – had allegedly told friends ‘I have to drown my babies,’ The Mail Online reports.
The mother – who had recently been released from prison for other offences - allegedly tried to drown her sons in the Murray River on Thursday.
The younger boy is still missing and was last seen floating downriver face-down, a court has heard, continues the Mail Online.
The mother allegedly took her nine-year-old son into the river in Moama, NSW and held his head under the surface as her younger boy, five, screamed from the water's edge, Bendigo Magistrates Court heard.
In a bizarre twist, the older boy managed to escape but suffered serious dog bite injuries when a pit ball belonging to a nearby neighbour set upon the mother and the boy in what the owner believes was an attempt by the dog to save the little boy.
The boy is now said to be recovering in hospital.
The boys' grandparents claim they warned that the mother could endanger the children after she was released from jail last month, with a statement released by their lawyer saying:
'The grandparents have had full-time care of the children for close to 18 months.
'We had made considerable representations to Family and Children Services and the Department of Correctional Services about the imminent risk posed to the little boys with their mother’s release from prison.
'Both departments failed to act and consequently we now have a grieving family.'
Police are set to continue their search for the missing five-year-old this morning.