Mum jailed for drowning daughter, 2, in pond

Annabel Mackey died after being pulled from the pond in September 2023

A teaching assistant has been jailed for drowning her two-year-old daughter in a village pond after suffering from a postnatal mental health condition.

Annabel Mackey died in hospital after being pulled from Kingsley Pond in Hampshire on 10 September 2023.

Alice Mackey, 42, of Oakhanger, was given a four-year sentence at Winchester Crown Court after admitting manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.

The judge, Mr Justice Saini, said she falsely believed her daughter was better off dead after suffering under a "bad mother".

He said: "You considered in your deluded state that this was some form of mercy for Annabel.

"You falsely believed she was not flourishing under your care and, in fact, was suffering under your care."

Alice Mackey stopped taking anti-depressants in January 2023 without telling anyone, the court was told

The court heard Mackey had numerous miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies over the five years before she became pregnant with Annabel.

Following the birth, the defendant suffered postnatal depression and anxiety and was prescribed anti-depressant and anti-psychotic medication, the judge was told.

Adam Vaitilingam KC, prosecuting, said Mackey stopped taking anti-depressants in January 2023 without telling anyone and her mental health deteriorated in the weeks before Annabel's death.

Mackey took her daughter from the family home in Kingsley and drowned her in the pond, he told the court.

She then phoned 999 and "lied" to officers and doctors saying someone must have taken Annabel from their house before saying she had found her in the water.

The girl was pronounced dead in hospital the following day.

Floral tributes were left at the edge of Kingsley Pond

In a victim impact statement, Annabel's father Peter Mackey said he was devastated by her loss.

He told the court: "I am deeply traumatised [at] the thought of how my daughter was killed. I am tormented by how frightened she must have been, at the pain she endured and the distress she suffered.

"I feel constant guilt that I was not at home to protect her on the day she died."

Patrick Gibbs KC, mitigating, said: "The first and most important thing to say is how unendingly sorry Mrs Mackey is for what she has done.

"She regrets every moment of what happened and she wishes above anything in the world that Annabel was still alive."

The defendant, who previously held a senior teaching role in London before the family moved to Hampshire in 2020, sat looking downwards as she was sentenced.