Police investigating the fatal stabbing of a three year old child, want to question the tot’s mother.
The mum-of-four, in her 30s, is under police custody at the Royal Victoria Hospital Belfast where she is being looked after by medical staff.
Her youngest child who is just a year old is also being treated at the hospital and is in critical condition.
Police attended an incident at the rented farmhouse property in Ballycarry, Co Antrim , shortly after 10.30am on Monday.
They had received a 999 call believed to be from the woman’s husband.
And on Monday afternoon police forensics teams removed a number of items from the family home including an iPhone 7.
The couple’s two older children were at school at the time if the incident and the children’s father was at work.
A PSNI spokesperson said: “Police can confirm that an investigation has commenced into the circumstances surrounding the death of a young child in the Larne area today.
“A woman in her 30s and a baby are currently receiving hospital treatment for injuries.
“The investigation is at an early stage and police are currently not looking for anyone else in connection with the death.”
The family of six moved into the property in January 2019 and have been quietly renting it ever since.
They knew their neighbours by sight and were on friendly terms with the locals.
A source said: “We didn’t know them that well yet. We were all on friendly terms and would have waved to each other in the road.
“They wanted a safe space for the children to grow up, nowhere near a main road, somewhere where they could play freely and enjoy the freedom of a rural childhood.
“It is hard to fathom why and how this could have happened.
“The mum is a nurse, a lovely young woman with a very caring nature.
“We just can’t take in that her two youngest children could suffer an attack like this. How could it be?
“We are hoping like everyone else that the baby makes it through and recovers.
“Our thoughts are with everyone, the two older children, their father and all of their loved ones.
“Our thoughts are with their mum too and our hope is for healing but for now we just can’t understand how something like this can happen."
The sprawling family home at the end of a country lane overlooking Larne Lough, was cordoned off by police at both sides of the property on Monday morning.
Forensic experts arrived around lunchtime and spent hours making a painstaking examination of the property.
The owner of the property who does not live in Northern Ireland said she was deeply shocked by news of the incident and was waiting to hear from police.
