Ocean
The Living Force
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1082726/Mother-smothered-year-old-son-logging-dating-website-jailed-life.html
3rd November 2008
Mother who smothered her three-year-old son before logging on dating website is jailed for life
A mother who surfed a dating website for men hours after smothering her three-year-old son to death was jailed for life yesterday.
Jailed: Tara Haigh accessed a dating website hours after smothering her son Billy to death
Tara Haigh, 24, saw her son Billy as an 'inconvenience' to her life of 'socialising and dating'.
Hours after holding a pillow over her struggling son's face she was on the internet - telling one user of the website Girls Date for Free that her son had died because of a tumour behind his ear.
In fact an array of tiny burst blood vessels on his cheek indicated little Billy - who had been on the council's 'at risk' register' - was suffocated.
Yesterday Haigh wept as she was found guilty of murder.
Jailing her for life, and warning she must serve at least 10 years, Judge Peter Thornton QC said: 'It has been proved beyond doubt that you smothered Billy to death, probably with your own pillow over his face.
'Billy was a well and happy child whose life was cruelly taken away from him.
'Your actions that night were almost certainly the result of exasperation and frustration.
'The stark fact is you killed your son, a vulnerable child in your care and protection.'
He said the circumstances of Billy's death did 'not bear thinking about', adding: 'He would have struggled for his life, fighting against his mother whom he had loved and trusted, until he was overpowered by your superior strength and will. It does not bear thinking about.'
A jury, sitting at London's Old Bailey, had heard how Billy was put on Surrey County Council's at risk register because of concerns that he might be neglected.
The boy's father was in jail for assaulting Haigh when Billy died.
At the time of the death Haigh - who has borderline learning difficulties and an IQ of just 74 - lived alone with her son in a one bedroom flat in Guildford, Surrey.
Billy was, by all accounts, a normal, healthy three-and-a-half-year-old.
On the day of his death his grandparents had visited him and found him 'merry, bright and in good spirits' as he told them all about a party he had been to the day before. He watched a video before he went to bed.
But the next night, November 6, 2005, the tragedy unfolded.
Emergency services were alerted after Haigh called an ambulance reporting that her son was not breathing.
Police and social services were alerted and an investigation began after medical staff failed in their attempts to revive the child.
Haigh, who had suffered from depression and bouts of self harm, was arrested later that month at the home of her parents.
During the investigation police discovered a computer trail that revealed she had been searching for dates just hours after losing her son.
The court also heard how she acted suspiciously in the chapel of rest, kissing her son as she tried to leave saliva on his face to make it appear as if she had desperately tried to give him the kiss of life.
She examined his hands and fingertips, and his abdomen, said prosecutor Sally Howes QC.
'It was considered to be unusual behaviour,' she said. 'She kissed his forehead and moved down his face kissing his nose and mouth area several times.'
Haigh, who denied murder, told police she put Billy to bed after he complained of being tired, and returned five minutes later to find him not breathing.
At the hospital she gave a number of 'inconsistent' accounts about what had happened on the night Billy died.
Haigh's mother was with her in the dock as she was found guilty of murder by a 10-2 majority after a jury deliberated for 26 hours and 23 minutes.
Defence barrister Robin Spence QC said: 'This offence was a dreadful and tragic aberration which must have some link to the problems she suffered from.
'This may have been an occasion when the defendant snapped which was the culmination of a period of stress.
'The last three years have been a living hell for her family and her.'
After the case Detective Inspector Jo Sidaway, of Surrey Police, said: 'The death of a child in any circumstances is incredibly sad. However, the murder of someone so young by the one person who should be caring for them most has been an upsetting and thankfully unusual crime to investigate.
'Tara Haigh saw her son as an inconvenience to the life of socialising and dating that she wanted to lead. Her inability to put Billy's needs ahead of her own culminated in her taking his life prematurely.'
Billy was placed on the at risk register in July 2005, prior to his father being jailed, amid concerns over his family situation and how he was being looked after. It is understood he was visited regularly by social workers
3rd November 2008
Mother who smothered her three-year-old son before logging on dating website is jailed for life
A mother who surfed a dating website for men hours after smothering her three-year-old son to death was jailed for life yesterday.
Jailed: Tara Haigh accessed a dating website hours after smothering her son Billy to death
Tara Haigh, 24, saw her son Billy as an 'inconvenience' to her life of 'socialising and dating'.
Hours after holding a pillow over her struggling son's face she was on the internet - telling one user of the website Girls Date for Free that her son had died because of a tumour behind his ear.
In fact an array of tiny burst blood vessels on his cheek indicated little Billy - who had been on the council's 'at risk' register' - was suffocated.
Yesterday Haigh wept as she was found guilty of murder.
Jailing her for life, and warning she must serve at least 10 years, Judge Peter Thornton QC said: 'It has been proved beyond doubt that you smothered Billy to death, probably with your own pillow over his face.
'Billy was a well and happy child whose life was cruelly taken away from him.
'Your actions that night were almost certainly the result of exasperation and frustration.
'The stark fact is you killed your son, a vulnerable child in your care and protection.'
He said the circumstances of Billy's death did 'not bear thinking about', adding: 'He would have struggled for his life, fighting against his mother whom he had loved and trusted, until he was overpowered by your superior strength and will. It does not bear thinking about.'
A jury, sitting at London's Old Bailey, had heard how Billy was put on Surrey County Council's at risk register because of concerns that he might be neglected.
The boy's father was in jail for assaulting Haigh when Billy died.
At the time of the death Haigh - who has borderline learning difficulties and an IQ of just 74 - lived alone with her son in a one bedroom flat in Guildford, Surrey.
Billy was, by all accounts, a normal, healthy three-and-a-half-year-old.
On the day of his death his grandparents had visited him and found him 'merry, bright and in good spirits' as he told them all about a party he had been to the day before. He watched a video before he went to bed.
But the next night, November 6, 2005, the tragedy unfolded.
Emergency services were alerted after Haigh called an ambulance reporting that her son was not breathing.
Police and social services were alerted and an investigation began after medical staff failed in their attempts to revive the child.
Haigh, who had suffered from depression and bouts of self harm, was arrested later that month at the home of her parents.
During the investigation police discovered a computer trail that revealed she had been searching for dates just hours after losing her son.
The court also heard how she acted suspiciously in the chapel of rest, kissing her son as she tried to leave saliva on his face to make it appear as if she had desperately tried to give him the kiss of life.
She examined his hands and fingertips, and his abdomen, said prosecutor Sally Howes QC.
'It was considered to be unusual behaviour,' she said. 'She kissed his forehead and moved down his face kissing his nose and mouth area several times.'
Haigh, who denied murder, told police she put Billy to bed after he complained of being tired, and returned five minutes later to find him not breathing.
At the hospital she gave a number of 'inconsistent' accounts about what had happened on the night Billy died.
Haigh's mother was with her in the dock as she was found guilty of murder by a 10-2 majority after a jury deliberated for 26 hours and 23 minutes.
Defence barrister Robin Spence QC said: 'This offence was a dreadful and tragic aberration which must have some link to the problems she suffered from.
'This may have been an occasion when the defendant snapped which was the culmination of a period of stress.
'The last three years have been a living hell for her family and her.'
After the case Detective Inspector Jo Sidaway, of Surrey Police, said: 'The death of a child in any circumstances is incredibly sad. However, the murder of someone so young by the one person who should be caring for them most has been an upsetting and thankfully unusual crime to investigate.
'Tara Haigh saw her son as an inconvenience to the life of socialising and dating that she wanted to lead. Her inability to put Billy's needs ahead of her own culminated in her taking his life prematurely.'
Billy was placed on the at risk register in July 2005, prior to his father being jailed, amid concerns over his family situation and how he was being looked after. It is understood he was visited regularly by social workers
