Deaths of three children killed by mum 'could not be prevented'

She was at the centre of a custody battle with her oil worker husband Pasquale when the tragedy happened last year.

Riggi fled from her home in Skene, Aberdeenshire, with her three young children and was eventually traced by police in Edinburgh.

When she failed to appear at court for a divorce hearing on August 3 last year, her husband's lawyer told judge Lady Clarke there was "a real emergency in this matter" and an order was issued for social workers to supervise the children.

But social workers were not informed of the concerns for 24 hours.

Edinburgh City Council's children and families department said it did not receive the faxed ruling until 3.05pm the next day, five minutes after Riggi had thrown herself over a balcony at a flat on the capital's Slateford Road.

The city's children and families department had demanded answers over the timing of the fax, pledging to ask for an explanation as to "why there was a delay".

But council bosses now say they are satisfied "nothing more" could have been done at the time to prevent the children's deaths.

Children and families leader Councillor Marilyne MacLaren said: "Senior social work staff at the council have looked closely at all the systems we use to share information between agencies.

"I'm fully satisfied that nothing more could have been done at the time of this tragedy to prevent it from happening."

However, Claude Knights, director of child protection charity Kidscape, said questions still remained over the children's deaths.

But she stressed the temptation to blame their deaths on a fax would be wrong.

She said: "This is a most tragic case about which much could be said with the benefit of hindsight.

"It does not seem fair to state that the deaths of these children could have been prevented had the fax been sent earlier, however tempting it might be to do so.

"Notwithstanding, the assertion that nothing more could have been done to prevent the deaths is unsatisfactory and is based on a number of assumptions that need to be questioned."

Riggi, who was originally charged with murder, admitted a reduced charge of culpable homicide due to diminished responsibility at the High Court in Edinburgh in March.

The mother-of-three denied a further charge of causing a gas explosion at the property which was accepted by the Crown.

Each child was stabbed eight times at the town house in Edinburgh in August 2010.

Riggi suffers from three types of personality disorder - narcissistic, paranoid and hysterical personality disorders.

Lord Bracadale deferred sentence until April 26 for psychiatric reports and a risk assessment at the High Court in Glasgow.