A mother who smothered her baby with a muslin cloth while taking a walk from a mental health unit where she was being treated has been sentenced to a hospital order.
Hayley MacFarlane, 39, was suffering from post-partum psychosis and depression when she killed five-month-old Evelyn in a Leeds park after walking out of a Christmas party in December 2023 , Sheffield Crown Court heard. Passing sentence, Mrs Justice Lambert said: 'I am satisfied that but for your condition of post-partum psychosis and your depression, you would not have harmed your baby.
Mrs Justice Lambert said MacFarlane took the baby to Hyde Park, Leeds, where she smothered her with a muslin cloth, then called her husband and the police, making an immediate confession. 'You were hysterical and told the police you deserved everything that was going to happen to you,' the judge said. Post-partum psychosis is a rare mental health condition which occurs shortly after birth and poses a significant risk to both the baby and mother, the court heard.
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