Mother, 32, suffocated her daughter, 4, 'out of love' as she suffered delusions of being persecuted by her neighbours
- Mother pleads guilty to manslaughter and is subjected to hospital order
- Court heard Chantelle Blake was suffering from 'delusions and hallucinations'
- Neighbour said last year that mother shouted at her because she thought she was starring at her
By JAMES ANDREW
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A mentally ill woman who who wrongly feared she was being persecuted by her neighbours suffocated her four-year-old daughter 'out of love' to protect her, a court has been told.
Chantelle Blake pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and was made the subject of a hospital order by Manchester Crown Court.
The court heard that the 32-year-old used a pillow to suffocated her daughter Kaiya because she was suffering from ‘delusions and hallucinations’.
Tragedy: A mentally ill mother, Chantelle Blake killed the daughter Kaiya because she believed she was being 'persecuted by their neighbours', a court heard
Speaking in September last year after the incident, neighbour Karina Demetriadis, 24, said: 'Chantelle shouted at me once because she thought I was staring at her daughter.
'She kept herself to herself and would never just have a normal conversation with anyone.
'She always looked like a doting mum. She was very protective.'
There is no evidence to suggest the neighbour did anything wrong.
When sentencing her, Mr Justice MacKay said: ‘The day you ended your daughter's life will, I am sure, be with you forever.’
The judge said it was not the purpose of the court to punish Blake, as doctors on both sides agreed she was and is suffering from paranoid schizophrenia.
He said: ‘I fully accept that you did what you did out of your love for and concern for Kaiya.’
Mr Justice MacKay said the defendant's ‘mental functions’ 'abnormal’ at the time.
‘You were thinking in a distorted and deluded way, but you genuinely believed that you were acting to protect your daughter from harm by persons who wished her ill. You thought that because you were mentally ill at the time.’
Suffocated: Four-year-old Kaiya was killed by her mother out of love
The court heard that Kaiya was found by police at their home in Garthorne Close, Moss Side, Manchester, on September 22 last year after the defendant turned up at A&E with a child's suitcase.
She had slashed her arms with a knife and told a nurse she had suffocated her daughter, the court heard.
Mr Reeds said that the signs ‘were not picked up at the time’. In 2011, the court heard, the child was taken away from Blake.
He said: ‘There was a period when it was necessary to assess whether or not she could cope with looking after Kaiya and that separation seems to have been the catalyst for the acceleration of her delusional behaviour.’
The court was told that Kaiya was returned to her mother and some months after this assessment she killed her daughter.
Mr Reeds said she attended the A&E department of Manchester Royal Infirmary on September 22, 2011.
She had attempted to cut her forearms and her wrists. She spoke to a triage nurse who described her as being ‘matter of fact’.
Scene: Flowers are left out side the house of Chantelle Blake after she killed her young daughter Kaiya
Mr Reeds said: ‘She said it was because she had killed her daughter. She said she had suffocated her daughter. She had brought her child's suitcase with her which had some personal effects in it.’
Also in the suitcase was the knife she had used to cut herself.
Police went to her home and broke down the door.
‘Under a duvet in the bedroom, with a pillow covering her face was the body of Kaiya. It was plain that she had been there for some time. It was also plain that she had been suffocated,’ Mr Reeds said.
It is not clear how long the child had been dead, the court heard.
Judy Khan QC, defending, said: ‘Miss Blake does not accept that she was mentally ill but she does accept that she was not in her right mind at the time of killing her daughter.
Happier days: Chantelle Blake with her daughter Kaiya
‘She maintains that she and her daughter were persecuted by her neighbours and she did not, nor has she ever, suffered from delusions or hallucinations.'
Miss Khan added: ‘She agrees that whatever the situation was with all those external factors, she made a grave error in killing her daughter and she will bitterly regret it for the rest of her life.’
Miss Khan said Blake did it out of ‘love and fear’ and to protect her daughter.
‘There was no one she could turn to and nobody else on her side,’ Miss Khan said.
The court was told that Kaiya's father, Alexander Glenford, was based in Jamaica but that Blake and Kaiya regularly visited him.
Blake cared for Kaiya as a single parent but Mr Glenford ‘kept in touch with the defendant and maintained an interest in her and his daughter.’
Detective Chief Inspector Phil Reade, of Greater Manchester Police, said: ‘Kaiya's death was an absolute tragedy. She was a happy young girl with her whole life ahead of her. Her death has left a huge hole in her family's life that can never ever be filled.
‘This family has suffered immeasurably over the past year and our thoughts and sympathies are with Kaiya's family as they continue to try and come to terms with her tragic death.'
A spokesperson for Manchester City Council said: ‘An independent serious case review is currently under way which is looking at the contact with family we, and other agencies, had.
‘This was a terrible tragedy and our thoughts are with Kaiya's family.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2228676/Woman-subject-hospital-order-suffocating-daughter-love.html#ixzz2BUBS5orI
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