Published 21st December 2014

CAIRNS: The mother of seven of eight children killed in the northern city of Cairns was charged with their murder on Sunday (Dec 21), Australian police said, as grieving family members paid emotional tributes. The 37-year-old, who has not been named and remains under guard in a hospital, was charged with eight counts of murder after the bodies of the children - four girls and four boys aged between two and 14 - were found on Friday morning. She appeared before a magistrate at a bedside hearing in the Cairns Base Hospital, Queensland police said in a statement.