THE estranged husband of the Sydney woman convicted of killing her autistic son said last night that she should be behind bars.

Despite originally asking the court for leniency, Craig Dawes revealed the extent of their marriage breakdown since the death of their 10-year-old son Jason.

“The fact is my wife held my son down, held a hand over his nose and mouth and held him till he did not struggle any more,” he said. “There is no way he didn’t struggle. I miss my son a lot. I cry each night. I wish he was with me. My wife should be in prison.”

Mr Dawes said it would have been unfair not to have told the court what a good mother Daniela had been to Jason. The judge said he could not impose a custodial sentence on the 39-year-old because she had suffered enough.

“I was still in love with my wife the day before this happened, and there is love there for my wife, but the deed she has done and thepain she has caused has blocked out a lot of that love for my wife,” he said in an interview on 60 Minutes.

Mrs Dawes was placed on a five-year good behaviour bond.

She attracted controversy earlier this month when she took her 14- year-old daughter to the NSW north coast for a holiday and took out an interim Apprehended Violence Order against her husband. The couple are fighting over the custody of their remaining child.