Woman says she ‘didn’t understand mental health’ before daughter in acute psychosis killed another child

The mother of a child killer did not understand mental health and consulted a naturopathic herbalist about concerns for her teenage daughter, an inquest has been told. Two weeks after the 14-year-old confessed to her mother that she thought about killing people “all the time”, the girl killed 10-year-old Biddy Porter at a property in rural New South Wales . Biddy, remembered as a vibrant, clever and creative child, died of multiple injuries while staying at the property in the school holidays on 8 July 2020. The NSW supreme court found Biddy’s killer, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was not criminally responsible due to mental illness in 2021. She has been in custody since her arrest and is overseen by the mental health review tribunal. Two psychiatrists found the teenager had schizophrenia and was in acute psychosis at the time of the killing. The teenager likely had delusions and a “loss of contact with reality”, counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer SC told the inquest at Lidcombe coroner’s court. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email Dwyer also outlined the teenager’s worsening mental health before the killing and her “disturbing” descent into psychosis, including acts of self-harm, an interest in knives and a sense of not feeling real. After the teenager slaughtered six chickens on the family property in June 2019, her parents removed her bedroom door and snapped a video game in half. …