The accused took an audible deep breath and her hands shook before Corrective Services officers led her away into custody on Tuesday.

The 40-year-old woman is facing a single charge of murder.

Strike Force Toora has been investigating the death of a 20-month-old boy in March 2015 at Neilrex, about 60km south of Coonabarabran.

Detectives arrested the accused on Monday afternoon at Geurie.

The next day as she faced court for the first time, she was brought into the dock wearing a shirt, shorts and thongs to appear before magistrate Paul Hayes.

The defence submitted the incident happened almost three years ago and her client had not gone away from the area.

The woman had given a statement to police at the time of the incident and she had no criminal record, before or after that time, the solicitor said.

The court also heard the woman suffered from claustrophobia and panic attacks.

The defence submitted there was limited recent evidence before the court.

The accused worked at Dubbo and had extensive family ties in the area, the court heard.

The court could be confident she would appear, the solicitor said.

The Crown conceded the woman did not have a criminal record in NSW.

It was further conceded the death took place in March 2015 and that the charge had not been laid until Monday.

However, it needed to be kept in mind it was a charge involving the death of a child, which had a standard non-parole period of 25 years on conviction, which was a significant incentive to flee, the representative of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions [ODPP] said.

“True it is she has not fled in the past three years [it is] conceded, however she has now been charged,” he said.

The Crown told the court there was now a post mortem and a report from the head of the children’s injury section of Westmead Hospital.

It was a case where police made extensive investigations before charging, the ODPP representative said.

Mr Hayes said a combination of matters had been put to the court to show cause why detention was not justified.

The prosecution materials before the court were extensive, and pointed to a prosecution case that was “well-advanced”, he said.

The offence before the court was a serious offence, carrying a life sentence if convicted, and the offence involved a child, he said.

The evidence before the court included observations from a lay person about injuries, and ultimately, forensic evidence which outlined the not insubstantial injuries to the child, he said.

The court was of the view that cause had not been demonstrated, Mr Hayes said and refused bail. The matter was adjourned to March 14.