NANNY Louise Sullivan was sacked three times by mothers in Australia because of the way she treated their children, said the Sydney detective yesterday who interviewed the mothers on behalf of Scotland Yard.

She was also fired by a family she had worked for in Britain.

The revelations came just hours after Sullivan, originally charged with the murder of six-month-old Caroline Jongen in London last year, pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Sullivan's aunt, Kim Edwards, who runs a children's store in Sydney and advertised her niece's services as a nanny in the shop window, said yesterday Sullivan was a gentle soul who only wanted to care for children.

Ms Edwards said Sullivan's brother and parents were in London supporting her and she appeared to be holding up well. "It's a difficult time for the whole family," she said.

Senior Detective Constable Matt Kehoe, of the NSW police, said yesterday he interviewed a dozen mothers who had employed Sullivan.

Three – Elisa Elwin, Deborah Ayscough and Elizabeth Affleck – had made it very clear they had not been happy with Sullivan's treatment of their children and had subsequently released her from their employment in Sydney, he said.

"There was quite strong evidence against Louise Sullivan from these mothers," Constable Kehoe said.

Ms Elwin dismissed Sullivan, describing her as "dazed and confused", while Ms Affleck sacked her after finding her bouncing her baby instead of rocking it to sleep, the policeman said.

Ms Ayscough hired Sullivan in 1995. Like others who dealt with the nanny, Ms Ayscough found Sullivan a little "simple" but was not unduly concerned, until one day she found Sullivan handling her child roughly and saying, "Stop it, stop crying".

She later sacked Sullivan after she caught her violently shaking her baby, the policeman said.

An English family also sacked the nanny for being "dopey and incompetent", he said.

Sullivan was placed with the Jongens through Kidz Unlimited, a nanny agency.

In Australia, she had completed a certificate in child studies homecare at TAFE and two first-aid courses with the Australian Red Cross, with the view to becoming a full-time nanny.

In a statement released yesterday by Harry M. Miller & Co. Management on behalf of her British lawyers, Sullivan was said to have accepted her actions (when dealing with Caroline Jongen) were grossly negligent. She was alone with Caroline when the baby suffered a fit or convulsion.

"In dealing with (it) . . . Louise Sullivan adopted the 'Shake and Shout' method, which she had been lectured on during her First Aid for Children course," the statement read.

The Australian Red Cross confirmed yesterday Sullivan completed two training courses with them in 1995.

It was unable to comment further while the case was before the courts, but a copy of the Red Cross training manual obtained by The Australian shows Sullivan would have been taught the "Shake and Shout" method. However, the manual states it must only be used to check the response of a person believed to be unconscious.