This feels really unsettling

Oh yes, that's the bit that the BBC has chosen to print from the whole court hearing.

As I said in my first post, very different representation of the Court case of that in which the baby drowned in a hot tub because the lid hadn't been fastened properly.

It said it in the BBC article

GNQC where does it say that the mother lied?

It says that she called paramedics straight away and tried to resuscitate the baby. And that she said that the accident was 'her fault' as she's left the baby for four minutes thinking that he would be safe, though didn't mention the phone to the doctors.

I think what happened here is a manifestation of the structural racism and classism embedded in the CJS that sees young, mixed raced lone parent women as feckless and incompetent and in need of being taught a lesson. Because they're a bit thick as well.

While the mother of the toddler who drowned in a hot tub (because the lid wasn't on securely) is portrayed as one of the victims of a tragic accident, which is clearly is. Somehow, her love for her baby was accepted by the court as mitigating evidence, and is very prominent in the media coverage, an element strikingly missing from the first case.

Both tragic accidents which both women will have to live with for the rest of their lives. Neither deserve a custodial sentence.

I saw this case and too was really surprised by the jail sentence.

Simply off the top of my head I can remember a UK news story about a dad who's twin daughters both drowned in the garden pond under his supposed watch.

I remember a story about a mum who left her two children alone in a shallow bath while she partied with her friends downstairs, the older child turned the tap on which drowned the baby.

I remember stories about parents leaving their babies in the car in the hot summer sun then their babies died from overheating.

In none of the above cases did the parent go to jail.

I think what happened here was that the mother lied and tried to cover up her actions rather than admit guilty straight away. I think she tried to cover her tracks and that's the main issue. But it's nonetheless an absolute tragedy.

I don't think a middle class white woman would have been jailed.

Utterly pointless to send that mother to prison. What purpose will it serve? She will be suffering enough.

With the benefit of hindsight, it’s very easy to see where they went wrong, but I think it’s a rare parent that’s never done anything stupid or risky with their kids, and thankfully there’s usually no harm done.

Both mothers were negligent, but they were also unlucky, it wasn’t their intention to hurt their children.

I think the sentence is definitely unduly harsh and she should not get a custodial sentence, this is not what prison is for.

I do wonder however in cases where a child has died following sustained maternal abuse where parents have separated but the father chooses to have little or no contact why they aren't also charged. I remember for example that awful case where a little boy starved to death and other children had been kept permanently indoors, the father was weeping and wailing about it, despite never actually checking on children he knew were there.

So far as prosecutions for failing to stop abuse, sorry but that deserves it.

I don’t think anyone has mentioned racism yet but it seems likely to be relevant imo.

Given that women can be and are being, prosecuted for not doing enough to stop their partner abusing their kids intentionally, how on earth are the fathers of these poor children escaping prosecution, when the mothers aren't, for accidents?

I read this earlier and thought that a custodial sentence seemed extreme. There surely must be more than is reported. I feel for her. She will have to live with that decision to take a call in another room for the rest of her life. Unless she was already under social service review for neglectful behaviour why has she received such a harsh punishment? And if she/they were under such review how are the other agencies not under review?

It just seems so wrong. That poor family.

pour décourager les autres
I can't see any other purpose Simone Perry 's sentence could be seen to serve. So very sad.

[quote christinarossetti19]Very different court judgement and tone of editorial to this also tragic accidental drowning.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/12/01/baby-drowned-hot-tub-mother-working-home-inquest-hears/[/quote]
Very odd of the coroner to refer to the baby in this case as his parents’ “most treasured possession”. Possession?!

The hot tub accident frankly sounds implausible. The mother is in sole charge of two 18 months old children on a very hot day and doesn't think of checking them for over 2 hours?

Where are all the anti carceral feminists when you need them?

I too am shocked at the severity of this woman’s punishment. I know a father whose baby drowned in the bath while he was in there with him, stoned. He fell asleep and the baby slipped under the water. He was not jailed.

If she doesn't serve prison time, then bath 'accidents' become an attractive option for those who actively wish to kill their infants.
However, the severity of treatment in this case compared with the hot tub one is appalling.

I don't agree with the jail sentence, and the report I read said she was given such a sentence because she hadn't really accepted that she was responsible. She admitted it from the start however, just didn't mention the phone - there seems to have been a focus on the fact that she was on her phone, which is surely irrelevant. She wasn't there with the baby, and what she was doing instead is neither here nor there (unless it was an emergency or something, which she never claimed).

I'm really torn. I'm the good friend of a mother who's baby drowned because a family member bathed him and left the room. The family member didn't serve time and the mother feels it every single day.

I suppose this is different though because it was the mothers directly who were taking care of the babies. And there's definetely something to be said for the possible class difference in the two cases linked above.

I come down on the tragic accident side as well.

Women are fallible. The same as men. Men in general IME are more reckless/ it'll be fine when it comes to kids.

Unless the child was experiencing ongoing neglect then I really don't think this prosecution or the decision are in the public interest.

How many parents of both sexes take their eye off the ball from time to time?

It's a worrying precedent imo.