Coonabarabran: Grandmother could be charged as NSW Police treat deaths of two young boys as double murder

A small regional town is mourning the “confronting” death of two young boys, as their grandmother awaits likely charges in a mental health facility.

The boys, aged six and seven, were found dead at a property at Coonabarabran, in the NSW Central West, at 2pm on Monday.

Their 66-year-old maternal grandmother, who was their sole carer, was found by police with self-inflicted injuries and was arrested at the scene.

NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Andrew Holland said the matter was being treated as a double murder but would not speculate on what charges would be laid.

“It was a confronting tragedy that shouldn’t have occurred,” he told reporters in Coonabarabran on Tuesday.

The grandmother is in a mental health facility with no specific timeline for her release.

She had moved to the small town about 11 months ago with the boys, Mr Holland said.

A message sent to the communities and justice department triggered a police response but police would not confirm reports it came from the grandmother.

“She did try to self-harm in a way that did take her and the children out,” Mr Holland said, adding that no weapons were involved.

The biological parents of the boys have been informed of their deaths.

A pathology report to determine the exact method of how the children were killed will be ready on Thursday.

Mr Holland said the police involved in the investigation, along with the Coonabarabran community, were distressed by the deaths.

“These things shock small country towns — the death of one child is bad enough, the death of two is just incomprehensible,” he said.

The news has rocked the close-knit agricultural community located 140km north-east of Dubbo, with a population of about 2400.

The deaths are being investigated under Strike Force Darnum, assisted by detectives from State Crime Command’s Homicide Squad.

Local MP for the NSW electorate of Barwon, Roy Butler, acknowledged the tragedy on Facebook, saying his heart went out to the local community.

“The death of any child is always devastating. In a small, close community, where everyone is connected in some way, it hits the community even harder,” he said.

“Any death is tragic, but in circumstances where it’s avoidable, it causes even more pain.”

Premier Chris Minns said the education department was working closely with the boys’ school to provide support to other students.

“These are the kinds of crimes that are just so heartbreaking for a community like that, to think of the vulnerability of young children in particular, I can imagine that community is going through hell right now,” he said.

“We’ll provide all of the resources and help that we can, either through the school or the local community, but I’m heartbroken for them, and I realise this will leave and cast a long shadow.”

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