Mum faces court charged with murdering three children whose bodies were found in a house fire

A mother accused of murdering her three young children, whose bodies were found in a house fire, has faced court for the first time.

A mother accused of killing her three young children, whose bodies were found in a house fire last week, has briefly appeared in court.

Margaret Hawke, 36, faced Perth Magistrates Court on Tuesday charged with the murders of her 10-year-old daughter, seven-year-old son and five-month-old son.

NCA NewsWire has chosen not to name the children due to cultural reasons.

Ms Hawke is also facing a charge of criminal damage by fire.

She was remanded in custody to face Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court on August 31.

Margaret Hawke has been charged with three counts of murder. Picture: Facebook

She faced court for the first time on Tuesday. Picture: Facebook

The bodies of the three children were discovered inside their Anderson St home in Port Hedland, in Western Australia’s north, on July 19.

The house was allegedly set alight about 4.45pm while the three children were inside.

Ms Hawke was placed in police custody and questioned about the incident soon after emergency services arrived at the property.

She was taken to Hedland Health Campus for injuries she suffered, before being flown to Perth for specialist treatment last Thursday.

Police spent days at the Port Hedland property.

The family of the three children described their deaths as a “shattering loss”.

“Our family is going through a very traumatic grief process,” relatives said in a statement issued through WA Police last Friday.

“We are unable to put into words the shattering loss that we are all feeling at this time.”

Their deaths have rocked the small, tight-knit community, with WA Police Pilbara District Superintendent Kim Massam describing the incident as “tragic” and “unprecedented”.

“To have three children perish in a fire, I’ve never had that in my experience, and it’s a terrible, terrible thing to have occurred,” he said.

He also said police were “very concerned about the mental health of our community”.

The Department of Communities said the family was well-known in the area.

“They’re going through the most difficult time that you could imagine. They’re grieving for the loss of these babies,” the department’s acting regional executive director Sally Kirk said last week.