Wyebank father sentenced to four life terms in prison

He pleaded guilty to the crimes last month.

He killed the children, aged four, six, ten and 16 in September. Three of the children's bodies were found in their Wyebank home, while the eldest's child's body was found in New Germany.

The 44-year-old man’s plea statement was read out in court by Judge Sharmaine Balton. 

The man says he committed the crimes because he believed his wife had been having an affair with the father of their 16-year-old stepdaughter, an allegation she denied. 

He says when his wife decided to divorce him, he had an emotional breakdown and planned to take his own life and those of his children.

In handing down sentence, Judge Balton said the father had no respect for human life. 

She says the man's actions were atrocious and that he gave the court no compelling circumstances because he mercilessly killed his children. 

Balton read out from the children’s mother’s victim impact statement, in which she says the man took away her precious children and that she can't bear to even look at another child. 

The mother says her life ended when her children died.