Mother charged with murdering children

A mother was today charged with murdering her three children when she appeared before a specially-convened court hearing at a hospital.

Eight-year-old twins Austin and Luke Riggi and their five-year-old sister Cecilia were found dead in an Edinburgh townhouse on August 4. The discovery was at the Slateford Road property.

The youngsters’ American mother, 46-year-old Theresa Riggi, faced the murder allegation during a hearing at Edinburgh’s Royal Infirmary (ERI) today.

She has been receiving treatment at the hospital after she was found badly injured on the same day the children were found dead.

Her first court appearance took place in private in an undisclosed part of the ERI, which was formally designated as Edinburgh Sheriff Court for the hearing.

She made no plea or declaration and was fully committed to hospital under an assessment order.

The funeral of the three children was held on Friday last week at St Mary’s Cathedral in Aberdeen, the city where the youngsters lived until shortly before their deaths.