Mother on trial for killing her five children

A BELGIAN woman went on trial yesterday for taking the lives of her five children in early 2007 by slitting their throats.

The two-week trial in the central town of Nivelles will focus on what drove the 42-year-old teacher Genevieve Lhermitte, who had been on sick leave for several years, to kill her four girls and boy, aged three to 14.

Lhermitte called the emergency services shortly after trying to commit suicide following the murders and has given her account.