Vancouver mother sentenced to five years for killing her babies

Editor’s note: Some details of this article may be disturbing to some readers.

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Sarah Leung has been sentenced to five years in prison for killing her newborn sons in 2009 and 2010.

The 28-year-old delivered babies into the toilet of her family home, then disposed of them in plastic bags she tossed into the garbage. Her first baby was born in February, 2009. The second was born in March, 2010.

In April, Leung was convicted of two counts of infanticide, though she was originally charged with second-degree murder.

Leung has been sentenced to 18 months for the first killing and 42 months for the second. She will be given 50 days’ credit for time already served. She must also report any future pregnancies to whatever province she lives in for the next 20 years.

During sentencing today, the judge called the killings “inexplicable” and “abhorrent,” and noted that Leung is now married to the man who fathered the two killed newborns.

The Crown had asked for an eight-year sentence, while the defence called for three years.

“I can say nothing other than it appears to be a very well considered, thoughtful decision, and I can’t say that it’s outside the range of possible sentences in this case,” says Leung’s lawyer, Richard Fowler.

“[The judge] sat through all of the evidence,” he adds. “She observed Ms. Leung on many days in court, and I believe that the sentence is consistent with the nature of the offenses.”

When asked about criticism of the decision on social media, Fowler told reporters, “It’s 12 essentially randomly picked members of the community who heard all of the evidence. So the people that are tweeting you undoubtedly didn’t hear all of the evidence and the jury considered their verdict for six days.”

After sentencing, Leung hugged her lawyers as a sheriff took her away. Her father wept loudly as he left the courtroom.