Aibu to think 6 years sentence is far too lenient for killing your baby.

[Marieb19]

Am I the only person who thinks sentencing Courtney Gartshaw to just 6 years for killing her 3 month old baby with hairdryer (burned her to death) is a travesty of justice. She will likely be out in 3! She took the baby on a drink and drug fuelled bender, returning home at 3am, before turning the hairdryer on her tiny baby . Her body was so badly damaged the paramedics thought the baby was decomposed. Gartshaw was allowed bail and her lawyers pleaded for her not to be incarcerated because of her mental health. WTF has happened to our justice system.

I have just read about this and am disgusted with the sentence. She purposefully murdered a child. 6 years is fuck all.

Another shockingly lenient sentence

I agree - I can't believe it.

I think there is a thread on this already with a lot of stuff on it. Might be worth a look for ?

Fir a mother to willingly kill her baby is such an unnatural act that there must be more to it.

Looking at reports it seems like she had pretty severe mental health issues.

If I thought for a second that these would be treated properly whilst she was incarcerated I’d support how ever long is necessary for this process to happen.

As it is the situation is devastatingly sad.

No you're not being unreasonable.

Self-inflicted (drug fuelled/substance abuse induced) mental health issues should not be considered in a plea for leniency. She'll be pampered and mollycoddled by the system under the guise of rehabilitation.

I'm afraid I've got little sympathy for drug users and think they should be allowed to take as many drugs as they want and with a bit of luck, overdose and die. Then it's one less burden on the tax payer and would solve the overcrowded prison situation too. Use the stuff they get from the drug raids and offer them freely in prisons.

Yes, I do.

And people rarely serve the full sentence.

I understand this mother had a horrible childhood and youth - she's a tragic case herself - but you don't torture your baby to death.

I'd forgive a person with this background for not being a very adequate mum, or for needing lots of support, but to get a hairdryer and roast a baby - sorry, that's sadistic.

It’s the UK. I'm no longer shocked.

I'm sure I read that someone had said she was out with baby earlier that day and someone commented on the baby being freezing. I wonder if the baby was hypothermic and in her drug addled state she thought she was warming them up. Horrible case, poor baby.

It was mentioned in court that the baby could have already been dead.

I really hope so, to be honest.

I wish hanging was reintroduced for sickos like this women who purposely murdered her baby.

That's a massive stretch. The poor baby had 18% burns over her tiny body. Do you realise how long you would have to blast a hairdryer for this to occur.

I read that somewhere too, I think it was her friends who saw her out drinking with the baby in the pram and they pointed out how cold she was. I suspect by the time she got home baby was either severely hypothermic or already dead and, as you say, she used the hairdryer to try to warm her up - possibly an attempt to cover up her own failings as a mother? Dreadful for that poor baby and 6 years definitely isn't enough.

She was off her rocker on drugs was she not? I'm just saying I can imagine a scenario where that seemed like a good idea given baby was already dead from hypothermia and she hysterically tried to warm baby up. It's still awful if the baby died from hyperthermia and then had her body burnt like that obviously, it doesn't make it a nicer crime or whatever but it might mean the babys suffered less.

She didn't have 'self inflicted mental health issues' (whatever that's supposed to mean) She had mental health issues and a background of childhood trauma. There's reference to alcohol in the court judgment but not drugs.

The sad thing is that despite not having the best start herself, it seems that she had until that night been a good mum to the baby, the judge commented that there wasn't a background of abuse and neglect. So it seemed that she did care and she was trying - until something happened that night. Its unfathomable, I mean obviously she shouldn't have gone out drinking with a young baby, and certainly shouldn't have got drunk to the point she didn't know what she was doing, but it's so bizarre and horrible what happened. I guess no one will know what went through her mind. I know she only got six years but I can't imagine she'll be able to live with what she's done and she'll be a target both in prison and out of it.

The older I get the more I realise I think like a hanging judge. Maybe it's because I learn more about the horrors of the world.

It’s such an unbearably awful case, that poor baby.

I’m taken aback by the sentence being so short.

she didn’t “purposefully murder” her baby though - not in the eyes of the jury, who heard the case and convicted her of culpable homicide (similar to manslaughter in the Scottish courts)
Im not saying it’s not awful - because clearly it is - but let’s at least try to be accurate

That is absolutely hideous but no one in their right mind would do that. I haven't read in to the case and can't bear to read anymore than what was included in the op but I imagine, as with most cases like this, many opportunities were missed that could have prevented this.

I don’t think she should be hanged. I do think she should be prevented from having any more children though.

The six years seems to be specific to the charge, and that it was deemed to be 'recklessness' rather than an assault. The reference in the judgement is a starting point of 4 years and a range of 3-7 depending on mitigating factors. I agree it doesn't seem to fit with the gravity of the crime though, I'm not sure if its because Scottish law is different, or if theres another reason the charge was one where the sentence was always going to be short?

It was a case of culpable homicide resulting from a high degree of carelessness or gross recklessness

https://judiciary.scot/home/sentences-judgments/sentences-and-opinions/2026/08/14/hma-v-courtney-gartshore

It still blows my mind that pretty much anyone can have a child, yet to adopt, you have to go through a lengthy process to prove you're capable of providing a safe and suitable home.

You can even face more checks before being allowed to adopt a cat or dog than you do before becoming a parent.

And we continue to see children dying at the hands of the very people who are supposed to love and protect them. It's absolutely horrifying.

Missed opportunities for what? The judge said that on the whole she took good care of the baby until that night. There hasn't been any indication that there was anything going on that was hidden.

Ok maybe, I haven't read up on it but find it hard to believe someone who took her baby on a bender then did this was perfectly normal the rest of the time