Mum Margaret Hawke pleads guilty to murdering three young children

A mother has pleaded guilty to murdering her three young children whose bodies were discovered after a house fire.

A mother has pleaded guilty to murdering her three children whose bodies were found after a house fire in Western Australia’s north.

The bodies of the 10-year-old girl and two boys, aged seven years and five months respectively, were discovered at the property on Anderson St in Port Hedland on July 19.

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

Margaret Dale Hawke pleaded guilty to three counts of murder when she briefly faced Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court on Wednesday via video link from Bandyup Prison.

She also pleaded guilty to causing criminal damage by fire.

Hawke was remanded in custody to face a sentencing hearing in the WA Supreme Court in April.

Margaret Hawke will be sentenced next year. Picture: Facebook

The family was well known in the Port Hedland community.

After the blaze, Hawke was taken to Hedland Health Campus for injuries she suffered.

She was later flown to Perth for specialist treatment.

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

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

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

Originally published as Mum Margaret Hawke pleads guilty to murdering three young children