GEORGETOWN, Guyana  – A High Court judge on Monday sentenced a 25-year-old mother to 98 years in jail after she was found guilty of killing her two children by giving them rat poison..

Awena Rutherford appeared before Justice Navindra Singh for sentencing after she had been found guilty last month.

The court heard that in March 27, 2014, Rutherford instructed her two young children, one-year-old Jabari Cadogan and four-year-old Odascia Cadogan, to ingest rat poison tablets.

Rutherford had said that she had  taken two tablets herself.

The children followed their mother’s instructions and became ill almost immediately. They were rushed to the hospital but died while receiving treatment.

In court, the woman had said that she was not aware that the tablets were rat poison and were given to the children who had a cold.

But the jury found her guilty on two counts of manslaughter.