A woman in Australia who spent the last 20 years in prison for killing her four children has been pardoned and released. 

Kathleen Folbigg, aged 55, was released from prison in Grafton, New South Wales today after receiving an unconditional pardon.  

She was imprisoned was in 2003 for killing her four young children. She was due to be released in 2033 and would have been eligible for parole in 2028. 

Ms Folbigg, had always said she was innocent insisting her children died of natural causes. 

A judicial review concluded there was reasonable doubt following evidence that two of them had a genetic mutation that could have been the reason for their deaths. 

Both daughters carried a rare CALM2 genetic variant, which the court decided was “a reasonably possible cause” of the sudden deaths. 

"A 20-year long ordeal"

Attorney General for New South Wales Michael Daley said Ms Folbigg has suffered a distressing time in prison.  

“We all have to put ourselves in his Folbigg’s shoes and let her now have the space that she needs to get on with her life,” he said. “It has been a 20-year long ordeal for her.” 

The children died separately over a decade aged between 19 days and 19 months. 

Caleb was born in 1989 and died 19 days later in what a jury determined to be the lesser crime of manslaughter. 

Her second child Patrick was eight months old when he died in 1991. 

Two years later, Sarah died at 10 months and in 1999, her fourth child Laura died at 19 months.