Mother admits killing five-month-old baby

Police found the child with serious injuries in Woodhouse Moor park in Leeds in December last year

A mother has admitted killing her five-month-old daughter who was found injured in a park in Leeds.

Hayley Macfarlane, 39, was initially charged with murdering baby Evelyn but pleaded guilty to infanticide at Leeds Crown Court on Monday.

Police found the child with serious injuries in Woodhouse Moor park on 20 December 2023, but she later died.

The Crown Prosecution Service accepted the plea and Macfarlane, of Carrington Street, Barnsley, was remanded to appear at Sheffield Crown Court on 13 June.

The court heard Macfarlane smothered the baby who died after being taken to hospital by ambulance.

Infanticide is legally defined as the unlawful killing of a child aged under 12 months by its biological mother, when at the time the "balance of the mother's mind was disturbed".

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