Mother who killed child with toy was 'clinically depressed'

A mother who allegedly murdered her daughter by suffocating her with a soft toy was suffering from "clinically significant" depression, a jury has heard.

Mother-of-four Helen Caudwell, 42, is accused of smothering three-year-old Bethany with a Piglet toy in October last year, after which she attempted to kill herself by slashing her wrists.

Manchester Crown Court was told the defendant was intermittently prescribed anti-depressants for around seven years.

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Forensic psychiatrist Dr John McKenna examined the supermarket worker from Cheadle Heath, Greater Manchester, in custody and in response to questions from Paul Reid QC, defending, said: "My opinion was that Helen Caudwell was suffering from a clinically significant depressive disorder."

He said her GP notes had revealed she was first prescribed Prozac in 1994. She was given further anti-depressants on and off between November 2001 and January 2009.

Prison records showed she tried to strangle herself with a ligature of bandages a week after her arrest, the court was told.

Recalling the day of Bethany's death Caudwell said she had no recollection of suffocating her daughter: "She said she did not believe she was responsible for her daughter's death as she loved her too much."

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Caudwell denies murder and has elected not to give evidence in her defence. The prosecution say Caudwell knew what she was doing when she killed her daughter and was leading a double life after telling both her husband and a man she was having an affair with that they were the girl's father.

Her lover was in fact the real father.

The trial continues.

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