The devastated father of two boys allegedly killed by their mother in their Blue Mountains home has remembered them as “beautiful boys”, during a funeral service in their home town.
Russell Smith, 11, and his nine-year-old brother, Ben, were allegedly murdered by their mother on September 10.
As she waits behind bars for her next court appearance, hundreds of family, friends and members of the Blue Mountains community gathered to farewell the much-loved boys on Wednesday.
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The funeral was closed to media, but the boys’ friends were seen entering St Thomas Aquinas parish sporting Penrith Panthers jerseys and flowers.
The boys’ father Nick Smith, made a heartbreaking request of the Blue Mountains community at the service.
“The one thing I do ask is every time people come back to the Blue Mountains when you come back from your adventures, please go visit the boys,” he said.
“Please go talk to them and tell them all the great things you’ve done since you last saw them, or you last spoke to them.
“And just sit with them and just and fill them in about the wonderful adventures you’re having, all the experiences you’re having out there and just keep that connection with them.
“And just make sure that they’re never forgotten and make sure that they always live inside all of you.”
Nick added it had been “an absolute, absolute privilege to be your father”.
“I’ll always hold you so deep in my heart,” he said.
“You touched the world … you touched so many people. You’re loved by so many people in this world through your family.
“Through your friends, through the community, through your school, through your soccer club, through your touch footy clubs, through the Panthers, throughout society.”
Police charged Patricia Joan Smith, 42, with two counts of domestic violence-related murder on September 13 after the boys’ bodies were found at their Faulconbridge home.
Emergency services were called to the house following welfare concerns and the boys’ father found their bodies on the same day.
NSW Police said Smith was also found at the scene with stab wounds and was taken to hospital in a critical but stable condition.
The mother’s Facebook page is filled with photos of her and the children smiling together, showing them on frequent bushwalks and beach visits.
The boys’ father, Nick, who did not live at the Blue Mountains home, expressed disbelief at the tragedy.
“The loss of our two beautiful boys has caused unimaginable pain and distress,” he said in an earlier statement.
“Russell and Ben were happy, funny, outgoing boys and were very much loved by their family and friends.”
– With AAP
