A Belfast woman has been spared a return to jail on a murder charge to give her nine children "a chance".
An application to have bail revoked for Ms Isobella Frances Gill (37) from Beechmount Grove in west Belfast was turned down in the High Court after Mr Justice Weatherup heard her children would be "scattered" among relatives if she were remanded back to prison.
Her lawyer had pleaded for a last chance after admitting Ms Gill had breached bail conditions by drinking alcohol and contacting the family of her ex-partner, Damien Kennedy, whom she is accused of fatally stabbing in a drunken row last May.
The eldest of her nine children is aged 18. Mr Kennedy was the father of the four youngest.
Ms Gill denied murder but would not get a trial "for a very long time", her lawyer said.