A dad of two has told a court in Germany the heart-wrenching ordeal of watching their mum throw them off the balcony before jumping too.

Lilian K., 39, was on trial for throwing their daughters off a five-metre-high balcony before jumping in July 2022.

The elder girl, three-year-old Paulina, later died after sustaining a fractured skull, while the younger one, one-year-old Ronja, survived.

The court has ruled today – Friday, 27th January – that Lilian K. must remain in a psychiatric facility after ruling that she cannot be held criminally responsible for her actions due to her mental health.

The dad – named only as Christopher H., 39 – had told the court in Saarbruecken, Saarland state, on Thursday, 26th January: “I was still preparing the milk for Ronja, then I saw Lilian throw both children off the jetty and jump after them.”

He said he immediately called the emergency services and then ran outside. He added: “Paulinchen was breathing so heavily, Ronja just screamed, I was holding both of them.”

Doctors would later tell him that there was nothing more they could do for Paulina, who died.

Christopher H. is now trying to obtain sole custody of Ronja, but he does want their mother to have contact with her remaining child, later saying: “She is and will remain the mother of my children.”

The grief-stricken dad, an IT worker, told the court how their lives together had started out so well, saying: “It all started so well, we decided relatively early on that we wanted children.”

First came Paulina, then Ronja in May 2021.

Lilian K., the mother, had previously said during the trial that she was sorry.

She said: “I’m incredibly sorry for how much suffering and grief I caused.”

The incident took place when the family was visiting the children’s grandparents.

The defendant claimed at the beginning of the trial that she suffered from “a mixture of depression and psychosis”, which had caused a “knee-jerk reaction”. This had led to her throwing the children off the balcony and jumping as well, she said.

She also told the court that she had felt bullied by fellow patients at a psychiatric day clinic and had had spontaneous thoughts of suicide. She also did not want to leave her children alone.

In retrospect, she said that she made a big mistake and that she had failed to listen to the advice of doctors from the day clinic and had not taken her medication.

She said that if she had, “this terrible act” might have been prevented.

The public prosecutor has accepted that the defendant suffers from mental illness and can therefore not be held responsible for her actions.

The woman had initially been investigated for murder and attempted murder after the police determined that because of their young age, the children had not been able to climb over the railings of the balcony themselves, and that the mother must have lifted them over it.