Madora Bay mum accused of killing her baby wants judge-only trial

The 30-year-old mum, who allegedly killed her 14-month-old, will argue she wasn’t ‘of sound mind’ during baby’s death.

A Perth court has heard a woman was “not of sound mind” when she allegedly killed her baby in Mandurah, as her lawyers fight for a judge-alone trial.

Sara Jade McCullock, 30, made her first appearance before Western Australia’s Supreme Court on Monday, where she stands accused of causing the death of her son Jace on April 27, 2022.

Emergency services were called to her home in the Mandurah suburb of Madora Bay on that evening to find the 14-month-old unresponsive; he couldn’t be revived.

Fourteen-month-old Jace was found unresponsive and couldn’t be revived at a home in the Mandurah suburb of Madora Bay in April 2022.

Ms McCullock entered a plea of not guilty to a charge of murder during an appearance before Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court in October, but wasn’t required to enter the plea again before Monday’s Supreme Court appearance before Justice Bruno Fiannaca.

Her defence lawyer Jonathan Davies, appearing via phone as her regular counsel was “out of the jurisdiction,” told the court they would be applying for a judge-only trial under Section 27 of WA’s criminal code.

Section 27(1) of the Criminal Code 1913 is essentially a defence of not guilty by reason of reduced culpability, commonly referred to as an insanity plea.

The baby’s mother, Sara Jade McCullock, 30, will plead guilty by reason of not being of sound mind before the WA Supreme Court.

State prosecutor Michael Cvetkovski told the court the state had procured its own psychiatric reports on Ms McCullock.

“Both psychiatrists agree Ms McCullock was of unsound mind (at the time of the alleged offence),” Mr Cvetkovski told the court.

Justice Fiannaca ruled the matter be adjourned until a pre-trial hearing on April 23, when the application for the judge-only trial would be heard.

Ms McCullock appeared via video link from Bandyup Women’s Prison, and was remanded in custody to remain there until the pre-trial hearing, when it’s anticipated she will appear in person and officially enter her not guilty plea before the Supreme Court.

Originally published as Madora Bay mum accused of killing her baby wants judge-only trial