Mother killed her severely disabled son because of concerns over his “pedophillic tendencies”.
Kim Margaret Earle, 49, sobbed and shook as she was sentenced on Tuesday in the Brisbane Supreme Court. The court heard she was of diminished responsibility when she killed her 18-year-old son, Brandon, on the Gold Coast in 2013, reports 9 news.
Justice Roslyn Atkinson said Brandon’s interest in sadomasochism and child porn had reached the point where he wanted to kill himself following his arrest for child pornography offences and his mother couldn’t see any way out.
“Essentially, you helped him to die out of your great love for him,” Justice Roslyn Atkinson said as she sentenced Earle.
“There are not many cases where the killing is committed out of love.”
After already spending just over three years in custody, Justice Atkinson said Ms Earle had suffered enough and should be released in three months.
The court heard Ms Earle had planned to die alongside her son but had woken up from an attempted overdose and made several other unsuccessful attempts to kill herself.
She now suffers from memory loss after undergoing electric shock therapy and has to be reminded of what she has done.
Asked if she had anything to say after pleading guilty, Ms Earle spoke of her love for her son.
“I loved him very much. It was a privilege to be his mum,” she said.
When police raided their home in December 2013, he clashed violently with police and Ms Earle feared what he would do when he was released.
Nine news reports, she took a taxi to the Gold Coast University Hospital, where she worked as a nurse, donned scrubs, and stole drugs and equipment from a controlled-medication store.
After spending the night crying, she collected her son from the watchhouse and when they got home, he tried to find a knife to carry out his plan to kill himself.
That’s when she told him she could help.
Brandon wrote four pages of final words and was given a fatal overdose while lying on his bed.
Ms Earle covered his body with a sheet and placed a frangipani on top of it.
She then had her dog put down and tried to kill herself.
Ms Earle has been in custody for three years and three months, and has undergone treatment for depression and anxiety.
Justice Atkinson ordered she be released from jail on May 28 to live with her mother and sister in NSW.
“It is time you got out of custody,” Justice Atkinson said.
“You have had more than your fair share of suffering.”
If you need support or information about suicide prevention please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
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