Comedian Jimmy Carr sparks controversy with comments defending Lindsay Clancy after murder trial

Comedian Jimmy Carr thinks Lindsay Clancy went 'mad' and described the death of her children as a 'terrible thing'.

Clancy has admitted to killing her children, five-year-old Cora, Dawson, 3, and eight-month-old Callan, but denied criminal responsibility for it.

Her defense team argued that she was mentally impaired at the time of the 2025 killings so was not in control of her actions. She's thought to have been suffering with postpartum psychosis at the time.

She went on to be tried for murder in recent months, but the high profile case ended up being declared a mistrial as the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict; 11 of the 12 jurors said she was not criminally responsible, but one didn't agree.

Seemingly had Jimmy Carr been on the jury, he would have also agreed that Clancy wasn't criminally responsible.

Lindsay Clancy claims she was suffering postpartum psychosis when she killed her children (Greg Derr / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

During a stand-up show, someone shouted 'Lindsay Clancy' at the 8 Out of 10 Cats host.

Carr replied to the heckler: "Lindsay Clancy? Is that the lady that killed her babies?"

Taking a serious note, the comic went on: "I think that it’s a very complex thing to talk to, because I think most people see the headline 'woman kills babies' and they go 'oh, she’s a monster, we should kill her,' because they don't understand what postnatal depression is. And they don't understand what psychosis is.

"A lot of women who have looked over the cliff that she fell down feel an empathy because they feel like that could have been them."

There was then a few cheers and applauds from the audience.

"She went mad," Carr said. "She’s not evil, she went [expletive] mad, and a terrible thing happened. If a man had killed three kids, it wouldn't have made the local [expletive] paper."

While people in the audience seemingly agreed with Carr's sentiments about men, many online didn't.

One person commented on his YouTube video: "If a man did it he'd be locked up for life. Nobody would ever believe that new fathers could ever get depression."

Another argued: "If a man had done what she had done due to a psychotic episode, he'd have gotten life and there would be no debate. That's a straight up fact. And yes he'd be in the news."

A third added: "If a man did it, then it wouldn't make the local paper?! It would make national news headlines for pity's sake! Crazy thing to say."

Others felt differently about his take on Clancy as well. "Don’t agree on this take," somebody said. "The fact that postpartum depression exists does not override the fact that she is a child murderer."