Margaret Dale Hawke: Mum tried to get help at Port Hedland women’s refuge before murdering her three children

A Port Hedland mother who killed her three children before setting their house on fire sought help from a women’s refuge the night before the tragedy because she was struggling to cope but was turned away because it was full. Details of Margaret Dale Hawke’s attempt to seek assistance before she carried out the shocking crimes were revealed as she was due to be sentenced in the WA Supreme Court on Friday. The hearing was told Hawke had been “grappling unsuccessfully” with the responsibility of being a mother for “some considerable time” before she stabbed and strangled her 10-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son, and suffocated her four-month-old baby boy at their Anderson Street home in July last year. After she killed her children, the 36-year-old walked to the beach to dispose of the knife before returning to the house where she lit fires in the front and back bedrooms. Prosecutor Justin Whalley said that as the blaze took hold some witnesses reported seeing Hawke acting calmly but raising her arms in the air and saying: “My babies are in there.” Another witness described her as being “manic”, walking back and forth towards the house before screaming and crying: “My babies, my babies” and “He’s taken everything from me”. Mr Whalley said when police arrived Hawke admitted she had hurt her children, saying: “I hurt my babies. I light the fire in the house. My babies, my babies. What did I do? Why, why?” When asked how she started the fire, Hawke apparently said: “I didn’t know another way to help them.” She later revealed to police that she stabbed, then strangled her two older children, telling them that she loved them, and suffocated the baby. As the harrowing details of how each child was killed were read out in court, Hawke, who cried throughout the hearing, banged her head against the dock, which at one point stopped proceedings. The court was also told the house would soon been demolished and a community garden built in its place. Hawke’s lawyer, Alana Woldan, told the court that nothing could justify what her client had done but that her deprived childhood, exposure to consistent violence and alcohol and drug abuse could provide some insight to her offending. She said much of Hawke’s adult life had been dysfunctional with violent and abusive relationships, and that her early life was marked by extreme trauma which affected her ability to deal with stress and regulate her emotions effectively. She told the court after Hawke gave birth to her youngest in hospital in February last year she told staff she was upset at the state of her house — revealing she had been unable to clean it while pregnant — and wanted to stay at a hostel after she was released from hospital. However, the department refused the request and Hawke was forced to return home. Ms Woldan then told the court the night before Hawke murdered her children she had gone to a women’s refuge seeking help but was turned away because it was at capacity and didn’t have the staff to look after her children. Mr Whalley told the court the State was not seeking a not-to-be-released order, saying it was not an appropriate case. And while Hawke will receive a life sentence, Justice Michael Lundberg adjourned sentencing until next week to consider submissions and what her non-parole period will be. Lifeline 13 11 14