Mum who killed baby girl given hospital order

Hayley MacFarlane (right) was suffering from post-partum psychosis and depression when she killed her daughter

A mother who killed her five-month-old baby while suffering from postnatal depression and postpartum psychosis has been given an indefinite hospital order.

Hayley MacFarlane, 39, admitted infanticide after fatally smothering her daughter Evelyn while on a walk in Woodhouse Moor Park in Leeds on 20 December.

MacFarlane, of Carrington Street, Barnsley, had been an inpatient at a mental health unit at the time and was overcome by feelings of failing as a mother, Sheffield Crown Court heard.

At sentencing on Wednesday, the judge told her she was satisfied if it had not been for her mental disorder, she would not have killed her daughter.

The baby was smothered in Woodhouse Moor Park in Leeds on 20 December

The court previously heard how MacFarlane underwent "a considerable change" and her GP and the community psychiatric services "failed to recognise the level of psychosis".

Baby Evelyn had been a "longed-for" and "very loved" daughter, the court heard, but MacFarlane's mental health caused her to feel like she was adversely affecting her daughter’s development.

MacFarlane sought help on various occasions in the months leading up to Evelyn's death, which included a self-referral to the local mental health team and a voluntary admission to Fieldhead Hospital in Wakefield.

She was subsequently transferred to a specialist mother and baby unit at The Mount in Leeds.

There, she was prescribed anti-psychotic medication and detained under the Mental Health Act with staff noting that she slowly began to improve.

She was discharged when her Mental Health Act detention expired 28 days later, but remained on the ward as a voluntary patient.

Her progress was deemed so positive, she was allowed to take Evelyn on an unsupervised walk on 20 December.

'Psychotic state'

Hours later, MacFarlane called her husband and then 999 to report she had killed Evelyn.

MacFarlane had initially been charged with murder, but the prosecution accepted a guilty plea to infanticide in June.

Psychiatrists subsequently agreed MacFarlane had killed Evelyn while "in a psychotic state", caused by post-natal depression and postpartum psychosis.

On Wednesday, Mrs Justice Christina Lambert made an indefinite Section 37 hospital order alongside a Section 41 restriction order, which means MacFarlane can only be discharged from hospital if the secretary of state for justice agrees.

Some 28 character references submitted by MacFarlane's family and friends detailed her "gentle and caring" nature and the shock felt over the decline of her mental health.

Hayley MacFarlane was treated at a specialist mother and baby unit at The Mount in Leeds

Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, which runs The Mount in Leeds, said it had fully co-operated with police investigations and an internal review had been carried out.

The trust's chief executive, Dr Sara Munro, said: “Baby Evelyn’s death was a rare and tragic incident, and our thoughts are with her family at this difficult time.

"We have maintained contact with Hayley’s family and we’ll be sharing the findings of our internal review with them once it’s completed.

“As this was such a rare incident, there will be further independent reviews starting soon which we will of course co-operate fully with too.”

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