Babykiller spared jail as charity calls for more help

Natasha Sultan, 21, sobbed in the dock at Hull Crown Court as she was told she may never be allowed to bring up another child after inflicting fatal head injuries on six-week-old Amelia-Lilly in October last year.

Judge Jeremy Richardson QC, who spared her from a jail sentence, described her as an “utterly broken woman” who acted in a “maelstrom of fatigue and mental disorder” and would have to live with the consequences of her actions for the rest of her life.

Sultan, who hit the child’s head against a hard surface, causing severe fractures, was probably trying unsuccessfully to feed her baby when the incident occurred. A partially-emptied bottle of milk was later found under the child’s cot.

The court heard that Sultan had only slept one hour in the previous three days and nights and had been prescribed anti-depressants.

However she took only one tablet, it was suggested, because she and her family felt a diagnosis meant people would think she was a poor mother.

Judge Richardson said it was “self evident” that Sultan was suffering from untreated post natal depression: “You were exhausted by the demands of constant night-time care for your baby who at the stage was only six-weeks-old.

“It is also plain there were feeding problems with the infant.

“There will be many parents of infants who appreciate the situation in which you found yourself. The sudden explosion of violence was due to your unbalanced mind derived from post natal depression.”

Yesterday Hull-based charity House of Light, which supports women with post natal depression, said many women were prevented from seeking help because of the fear their children would be taken off them.

Co-founder Joanne Morton said: “If anything it shows the need for increased understanding and support round mental illness.

“Sleep deprivation is dreadful, it used to be used as torture.”

However she said the court case was extremely rare and there was a danger that it could feed into the misconception that women with post natal depression were likely to harm their children.

She said: “There is an old belief that women with post natal depression neglect their children. We see the opposite. Mums are quite obsessional about their children. A mum is more likely to harm herself than a child.

“The stigma does stop a lot of women from seeking help. It’s the way the media portray post natal depression as a baby crying and the mum sobbing in the corner. We find the earlier a woman gets help the quicker they recover. I would urge anyone suffering from post natal depression to get help - it is very treatable and it will get better.”

Sultan, of Welton Grove, Hull, admitted infanticide on Monday - when she was due to stand trial for murder - and Judge Richardson said he could not ignore her late acceptance of culpability, her lies to doctors and police and the fact she had not sought help for her daughter.

Medical experts said the severity of her injuries would have caused the infant to scream before lapsing into unconsciousness.

However Sultan went to sleep, leaving her partner to discover the child in the morning.

She had changed her story from claiming nothing untoward had happened, to saying the child had been accidentally dropped onto carpet.

She has still not admitted the truth to police and the court was told that despite a thorough investigation of the cot, walls, carpet and door frame, it was still not known exactly how the injuries were caused.

However Judge Richardson said her disturbance of mind meant that her actions were not those of a calculating, cruel woman.

He added: “That provides a very different complexion to the case - serious though it is. But for this I have little doubt this would have been a clear case of murder.”

Sentencing Sultan to a three-year supervision order, the Judge said she would have to live with her actions for the rest of her life, and if she ever had children social services would be involved. He added: “It may that you are not permitted to bring up any future child given what has happened. The most thorough investigation of the situation will be required.”

She is also barred from engaging with children in regulated activities and working with them.