NO JAIL FOR MOM WHO TRIED TO KILL SON

COURT -- A Dartmouth woman, high on crack cocaine when she tried to
smother her young son two years ago, was sentenced to house arrest
yesterday.

The 38-year-old woman, whose name is banned from publication, pleaded
guilty nine months ago to a charge of attempted murder dating to Sept.
2, 2003.

She will be under house arrest for two years less a day, but will be
allowed to leave her home to attend school, work part-time and see her
addictions counsellor.

She will then be on probation for three years.

"It's been the hardest years of my life," the woman told the judge.
"I'm sorry for what I've done."

Crown attorney Robert Morrison had asked she be put in prison for two
years, followed by two years' probation.

But Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Charles Haliburton said the
woman's judgment was "clouded by use of cocaine," and her intent was
to kill herself, not her children.

"Her real crime was doing cocaine. I would conclude that she is not a
criminal as long as she is not doing drugs," Haliburton said.

"The interests of society are best served if she continues with her
life changes."

The judge said the woman is "really to be congratulated" for turning
her life around.

For the past two years, the woman has been drug free, and has attended
Nova Scotia Community College.

Morrison said the woman began smoking crack cocaine around 8 p.m. on
Sept. 1, 2003, and in the early hours of Sept. 2 decided to commit
suicide.

She then decided to kill her two children so they wouldn't be made
wards of the state, or put into foster care.

"She put a pillow over the face of her sleeping son. He woke up and
cried out. She retreated, and her daughter came into the room,"
Morrison said.

The woman attempted to slash her wrists, but then called the Nova
Scotia Hospital and her social worker.

Morrison said the woman committed the "ultimate betrayal of trust"
against her son.

In a pre-sentence report, he said, her attitude was: "I've made a
mistake, let's move on," and "S--t happens.