A 26-year-old mother, Shania Lee, has been granted bail after being charged over a house fire in Melbourne's north-western suburb of Sydenham that killed two children and injured a third. The blaze occurred on September 8 last year.
Lee faced the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Wednesday charged with negligent manslaughter and one count of negligently causing serious injury. The three children were found unconscious and hospitalised with life-threatening injuries; two girls died three days later.
Prosecutors told the court that Lee left the home at 9:16pm to pick up car parts. Two minutes later, a smoke alarm was activated and a fire had broken out at the rear of the property. Lee returned at 10:40pm and presented herself to police.
Detective Senior Constable Chris Mitchell said Lee had installed a camera in the kitchen to monitor the children. In a monitored phone call, she saw smoke on the camera but failed to call triple-0. Defence lawyer Sam Norton argued she did not know the fire had broken out.
The cause of the fire remains unclear, and Lee has not provided a statement to police. She was granted bail and will reside in Moama, a New South Wales border town, with her mother. The case returns to court in January.
