Mum accused of murder cries in court

A mother accused of murdering her three young children wept as she appeared in a public court for the first time.

Theresa Riggi is alleged to have killed eight-year-old twins Austin and Luke and their five-year-old sister Cecilia at their Edinburgh home in August last year.

Riggi, 47, who wore a white dress and jacket and held a handkerchief as she sat in the dock, was at the High Court in the city for a short preliminary hearing.

American Riggi faces three charges of murder and another of culpably and recklessly causing a gas explosion.

All the events are alleged to have happened between August 2 and 4 last year at an address in the city's Slateford Road, where she and her children were living.

The case was continued without plea to a hearing on March 7 in Edinburgh.