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Mother who stabbed two sons asks court for supervised trips outside of mental health facility
A mother found mentally ill when she stabbed her two sons on the side of an Adelaide motorway has sobbed in court as the boys' fathers described how her "evil acts" will haunt their lives forever — and has asked the court to allow her to be released to go on weekly supervised shopping trips.
WARNING: This story contains content that some readers may find upsetting.
The Supreme Court previously found Megan Jayne Somerville, 38, of Modbury Heights, not guilty of the attempted murder of her two sons on the night of August 15, 2022, due to her mental incompetence.
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The father of her youngest son — who was then aged three — told the court how his "whole world shattered" on the night of the incident, in a statement prosecutor Lucy Boord SC read to the court on his behalf.
He said he was "bombarded by horrific images and bloody scenes" every time he drove on the North-South Motorway, where his son — who he said would endure "lifelong suffering" — almost lost his life.
"We will both be permanently scarred for life. These evil acts … will haunt our lives forever," he said in the statement.
"[My son] gets extremely scared of the dark and paranoid, as if he is reliving the incident.
"He is often scared of people, women and those that are bigger than him."
The father said his own flashbacks were "torturous".
"I suffer from severe nightmares and panic attacks, waking up abruptly, fearing she has been released from prison and has taken my son," he said.
He also described an incident where he said Ms Somerville had threatened him with knives just days before the stabbing.
"Megan was on top of my chest with a kitchen knife, threatening me, and I was petrified," he said in the statement.
He said he also later found knives throughout the house, in the "bedroom, under the pillows, inside clothing cupboards, underneath clothing cupboards, under the bed and other hidden spots".
"I have no idea how far she was capable of going," he said in the statement.
In his statement, the father of Ms Somerville's older son — who was aged eight at the time of the incident — said the boy suffered ongoing flashbacks and did not want to be around women.
After the statements were read aloud, Ms Somerville's lawyer Jeffrey Powell read an apology from his client, in which she said she was "so sorry".
"I don't deserve to be forgiven, I struggle to come to terms with what I did," Mr Powell said on Ms Somerville's behalf.
"I'm badly affected by what I did to my sons.
"I'm hoping one day my sons will forgive me … I am truly sorry."
Mr Powell said Ms Somerville hoped to reconnect with her sons, but said she would accept it if they refused.
The court had previously heard Ms Somerville was experiencing an episode of psychosis, characterised by delusional thoughts, at the time of the incident and had used both methamphetamine and cannabis in the hours beforehand.
The court found her offending was "substantially caused by self-induced intoxication" but that she was "not guilty of the offence of attempted murder by reason of mental incompetence".
In footage of the incident previously shown to the court, Ms Somerville could be seen repeatedly thrusting her arm at a child before a motorist stopped and intervened.
Mr Powell asked the court to consider allowing Ms Somerville supervised release from secure mental health facility James Nash House on licence — to allow her to go on weekly shopping trips.
He said a single condition could be added when the court sets a limiting term — a term in mental health supervision instead of a jail term for a person found mentally incompetent of a crime — which would allow her to begin reintegration into the community in "specific and controlled circumstances".
"The type of condition that we would be suggesting, in addition to what would otherwise be routine detention conditions, would be a condition that allowed her to enter the community, perhaps just once per week, escorted by two staff members from James Nash House and to go down to the shops for a couple hours," he said.
Mr Powell said his client had an "unblemished record" in detention and that there was "reason to be optimistic" about her prognosis.
"There is no issue, incident, or episode recorded in the past three years of confinement that would hint at Ms Somerville posing a risk to public safety," he said.
He acknowledged the condition was at odds with the views of her treating psychiatrist who had recommended she remain in detention for ongoing treatment.
Ms Boord said the application was "strongly opposed" by the prosecution and that the court should be guided by the recommendations of the treating psychiatrist to continue treating Ms Somerville in detention.
She said Ms Somerville's crime was "one of the worst" of its type, noting it involved a "mother on her own children, how vulnerable they were and the sustained nature of this particular attack".
Justice Sandi McDonald ordered a further report from Ms Somerville's treating psychiatrist which would consider the defence proposal for her release on licence.
"There will be a time, but surely that should be determined by the experts," she said.
The matter will return to court in July.
