Allyson McConnell, Australian mother, on trial for killing sons in Canada

Australian mother Allyson McConnell drowned her two young sons in a bathtub before driving to a restaurant, ordering lunch and then jumping off an overpass onto a busy freeway, a court in Alberta, Canada has heard.

McConnell, 33, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder stemming from the February 2010 murders of 2-year-old Connor and 10-month-old Jayden in Millet, south of Edmonton, according to a report on Canada.com.

McConnell, formerly of Gosford on the NSW central coast, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, moved to Canada in 2005, met Alberta man Curtis McConnell and married him in 2007, becoming a permanent resident.

The couple were reportedly going through a "difficult'" divorce when the boys were killed, with Curtis McConnell living with his parents at the time.

Prosecutors have said Allyson McConnell wanted to take her sons back to Australia, the Australian Associated Press reported.

The trial in the Court of Queen's Bench in Wetaskiwin is slated to last two weeks, with prosecutor Gordon Hatch saying he would likely call 10 or 11 witnesses.