Mother who killed girls said '˜I never heard youngest cry like that', court told

Samira Lupidi, 24, told the psychiatrist that she was scared her partner would take her children away and that she smothered her two young daughters, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Dr Josanne Holloway told the jury she believed Lupidi was suffering from a depressive episode with persecutory delusions at the time of the killings.

Previously: Mum who ‘murdered her two young daughters at Yorkshire safe house’ breaks down in dock

Lupidi denies murdering 17-month-old Jasmine Weaver and three-year-old Evelyn Lupidi but has pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Dr Holloway said she did not believe the defendant’s abnormality of mental function caused her to kill her daughters and it did not amount to diminished responsibility.

Peter Moulson QC, prosecuting, said Lupidi told Dr Holloway that she had smothered her daughters but she did not remember using a knife.

He said to Dr Holloway: “She started to strangle Evelyn with her hands. She said Evelyn was fighting but she couldn’t stop. Miss Lupidi said ‘I cried a lot and then she stopped moving’.

“In relation to Jasmine, Miss Lupidi told you she put a pillow over her face until she stopped moving. Miss Lupidi said she thought she had only used a pillow on Jasmine.

“She described Jasmine as a beautiful girl. Miss Lupidi said she has nightmares and when she killed Evelyn, Jasmine was crying in the corridor. Miss Lupidi said ‘I never heard her cry like that’.

The trial has heard that Lupidi and the girls ended up in a women’s refuge after she called police to her home in Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire.

She told officers that the girls’ father - her partner Carl Weaver, 31 - slapped her twice the night before and she was scared he was going to kill her, the court heard.

The jury was told that, the following day, staff at the refuge found Lupidi running out of the flat she was allocated and shouting that she had “killed the children”.

The court heard that Lupidi told Dr Holloway she did not know why she killed her daughters, who were both found with nine stab wounds to the chest.

Mr Moulson said: “She thought part of the reason was her fear that Carl Weaver would take the children. She denied killing the children to get back at Mr Weaver.”

The court heard that Lupidi told Dr Holloway she felt “sad and low” in the months before the killings and that she had never felt comfortable with herself and felt insecure.

Mr Moulson said the Italian defendant had said she felt trapped and isolated in the UK, where she was dependent on Mr Weaver and his family and had no financial independence.

The jury was told that she feared Mr Weaver would cause her serious harm and believed his family did not like her and talked about her behind her back.

Mr Moulson asked Dr Holloway: “Miss Lupidi was suffering from a depressive disorder at the time of the incident?”

Dr Holloway said Lupidi had a “depressed mood” for most of each day and had feelings of worthlessness which were “contributed to by fear of losing her partner and fear that her maternal role was being threatened”.

Earlier, the court heard that Lupidi told police medical examiner Dr Andrew Cobb “I’m a lovely mum” before adding “I used to be” and breaking down in tears.

Assessing Lupidi at Bradford police station after she stabbed the girls, Dr Cobb said the defendant denied any thoughts of self-harm but said: “Today, yes. When I hurt them, I want to hurt myself as well.”

Dr Cobb described the defendant as appearing “thin, tense, guarded and quietly desperate” when he assessed her. He said he did not judge her to be overtly mentally ill but said he believed she was depressed, the court heard.

A statement from Lupidi’s Italian friend Bevisna Neziri was also read to the court.

Mr Moulson said Ms Neziri told police that Lupidi admitted she was “having problems” with Mr Weaver about a year before she killed her daughters.

The prosecutor said Lupidi told Ms Neziri that Mr Weaver was no longer attracted to her and was contacting other women. She told her friend he hassled her and threw objects at her, the court heard.

Mr Moulson told the court it was not disputed that Mr Weaver had intimate conversations with other women, which he hid from Lupidi.

Lupidi did not appear in the dock to listen to the evidence on Tuesday morning. During the afternoon, she sat with her head bowed throughout proceedings.

The trial was adjourned until Wednesday.