Burnley: Mum who murdered baby with scissor dies in HMP Styal

Rachel Tunstill's first murder conviction was quashed

A mother who stabbed her new-born baby to death with scissors after telling her boyfriend she had miscarried has died in prison.

A prison service spokesman confirmed that Rachel Tunstill, 32, died at HMP Styal in Cheshire.

Tunstill, who killed Mia Kelly in the bathroom of her Burnley home and dumped her body in a bin in 2017 and was later jailed for life.

The spokesman said "this was not a self inflicted death".

A statement from the Prison Service statement said: "HMP Styal prisoner Rachel Tunstill died in custody on 1 August 2023.

"As with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will investigate."

Tunstill was first convicted of murder in June 2017 and handed a life sentence, with a minimum term of 20 years.

But the conviction was quashed in July the following year after Appeal Court judges ruled the jury should have been allowed to consider lesser charges.

Following a retrial in 2019, she was convicted again and ordered to serve a minimum of 17 years.

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to [e-mail]