Who is Kathleen Folbigg? Mother jailed for the death of infant babies pardoned

Kathleen Folbigg is an Australian woman who was convicted of murdering her three infant children, and also convicted of the manslaughter of her fourth child.

When Folbigg was only 20 years old, she got married to Craig Folbigg after they had met in Newcastle, northern New South Wales coast. She got pregnant with their first child, Caleb Gibson in February 1989. However, Caleb died when he was just 19 days old.

In 1990, she had another child, Patrick Allen, who died at eight months. Sarah Kathleen was born in 1992 and died after 10 months. Then there came their last child, Laura Elizabeth, born in 1999 and died at 18 months; she was the longest-lived child.

She was sentenced to 40 years but has been released after 20 years. It has been considered by most people a miscarriage of justice. On June 5, 2023, she was pardoned after serving 20 years behind bars, which most people consider to be a miscarriage of justice.

She was pardoned by a New South Wales Attorney General, Michael Daley.

“This has been a terrible ordeal for everyone concerned and I hope that our actions today can put some closure on this 20-year-old matter,” Daley said.