This article is more than 9 years old

This article is more than 9 years old

A mother has admitted killing her three children before recklessly causing a gas explosion at the family home in Edinburgh.

Theresa Riggi, 47, appeared at the high court in Edinburgh accused of murdering eight-year-old twins Austin and Gianluca and their sister Cecilia, aged five, by stabbing them to death.

Riggi pleaded guilty to reduced charges of culpable homicide, the Scottish equivalent of manslaughter, on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

The children were found dead at their flat in Slateford Road in west Edinburgh in early August last year after a reported gas explosion and fire at the property. Riggi had jumped from a balcony of the second-floor flat, seriously injuring herself.

It was initially thought the explosion was accidental, but Riggi was later charged with deliberately tampering with the gas cooker in the flat, recklessly causing an explosion that severely damaged the building.

The prosecution accused her of stabbing the three children repeatedly with a knife or knives between 2 and 4 August last year, before trying to cover up the murders with the explosion.

She was accused of removing a gas hob from its fixtures and undoing valves on the cooker, allowing gas to escape. She was alleged to have made sure the windows and doors were locked, and then ignited the gas.

Originally from Texas, Riggi and her children had moved to Edinburgh after her marriage to Pasquale Riggi, an oil industry executive in Aberdeen, had broken down. The couple were involved in a dispute over custody.

During her seven months in custody, when she was treated for her injuries, Riggi was detained at the Royal Edinburgh psychiatric hospital for evaluation.

Speaking shortly after the children's deaths, her estranged husband said he had been "paralysed with grief". His children, he said, were a "beautiful blessing".

The hearing, before Lord Bracadale, continues.