Mother admits killing her children

An American woman has admitting killing her three children in Edinburgh last year.

Theresa Riggi stabbed her eight-year-old twins Austin and Luke and their five-year-old sister Cecilia at their home in the city.

Their bodies were discovered following a suspected gas explosion in August last year at the townhouse they shared with Riggi, in the Scottish capital's Slateford Road.

At Edinburgh High Court, Riggi, 47, entered a plea of guilty to the culpable homicide of her three children on the grounds of diminished responsibility. She had originally been charged with murder.

Riggi originally faced three charges of murder but admitted the lesser charges during a hearing on Monday.

Prosecutors had alleged that Cecilia and the twins, who were also known as Augustino and Gianluca, were repeatedly struck on the body with a knife or knives between August 2 and 4 last year.

The family had moved to the city from Skene, Aberdeenshire, following the breakdown of Riggi's marriage to the children's father, Pasquale Riggi.

Following their deaths, the oil engineer said he was "paralysed with grief".