PSNI waiting to question mother of toddler who died in stabbing

The police in Northern Ireland are waiting to question the mother of a toddler who died in a stabbing incident at their home in Co Antrim on Monday.

The woman, who is in her 30s, and another child, a baby believed to be less than a year old, were seriously injured in the attack.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has said it is being treated as a domestic incident and they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.

Details of the woman’s condition have not been officially released, but she is understood to be critically ill.

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The emergency services were called to the farmhouse in Magheramorne, outside Larne, on Monday morning.

Neighbours said they first realised something had happened when they heard the police helicopter above.

A significant police presence remained at the property throughout Monday. Forensic experts in white boiler suits were seen removing items from the house, and the road was cordoned off in both directions.

Those who lived nearby spoke of their shock and sadness that such a tragedy could have happened in this quiet, rural area.

The local MP, the DUP's Sammy Wilson, said he knew some of the extended family and they were well-known and respected in the Larne area.

“They are as you would expect,” he said. “Stunned, horrified, bewildered. They didn’t expect any of this.

“People just can’t take it in,” he said.

The thoughts of people locally, he said, were full of sympathy for the family. “What can people do in the event of a tragedy like that? Express their horror.

“They’ll want to give what support they can to each other but none of that really dilutes the enormity of what happened.”

“This is a rural community where everyone knows everyone else,” he said. “You tend to find families have been in the area for a long time so lots of people know the family, and people feel very intimately connected to it . . . it will affect an awful lot of people in the immediate area.”