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.

Shocking!!!

The government should step in and reassess her sentence. I cried when I read what she did, having a baby is a gift, she’s pure evil. I hope to God that she never has more children when released, this is when enforced sterilisation comes to mind, she doesn’t deserve another chance, an evil, evil act.

What about the people who saw her steaming drunk with a baby in a pram. That is a missed opportunity, is it not?

There are huge numbers of people who have had shitty abusive childhoods. There are huge amount of people with mental health issues. And there are huge numbers with both.
None of which is an excuse or reason for burning your baby to death with a hairdryer.
The sentence is a complete joke and I think it's to do with the charge being culpable homicide and not murder.

They were 'normal' enough that the judge took it into consideration in the sentencing. The mum had had some mental health issues including self harm, but that's hardly unusual.

So her sentence would've been longer had she been more mentally ill? Or shorter?

Well obviously, but my point was there wasn't anything to indicate concerns before that night. Ordinarily if a member of the public reported a parent out with a young child and drunk the police would attend. I don't know the law in Scotland but here the police would use their powers to safeguard the child (either by contacting a relative to take care of them for the night, or if no-one, by handing them over to social services as a last resort)

you want the government to start sentencing people now?? really??
there’s a reason why the courts and the justice system are independent of politicians….

???. Mental illness wasn't relevant in her sentencing, the point was there wasn't anything unusual. The judge commented about there not being a background of abuse or neglect, if there had been it would have been longer, but only slightly due to what she was charged with (the range was referred to as 3-7, she got 6, it's in the judgement I posted on the previous page)

I think it would be the difference between going to prison or Carstairs.

How does it blow your mind? Imagine the resources required to police who procreates.

I would think the ignorance of history that's demonstrated by anyone suggesting forced sterilisation is a good idea is indicative that they should be a candidate really.

Not exactly. The health visitor had reported that the flat was clean and tidy but she would have known they were visiting. When the paramedics arrived the place was a tip, the cot was being used as a storage dump and the baby had been sleeping with the mother, even though she had been warned against this.

And the judges view was that on the whole the care of the baby was ok. Not perfect, not ideal, but co sleeping and having a messy house isn't grounds for statutory intervention nor does it indicate that a baby is at risk of harm.

the poor tiny babe was only 3mths old, I wish I hadn’t thought of this; but how long would it take to die of that vile torture.💐RIP Dahlia-Rose.

That's a bit of a silly question (albeit probably rhetorical). Child killers, paedophiles and people in the grip of severe addiction, to name just a few, can all have children. Why wouldn't that blow my mind?

I didn't suggest we should police who is allowed to procreate. I'm perfectly capable of recognising that doing so would be both practically impossible and incompatible with fundamental human rights.

I was simply pointing out the extraordinary contrast between the scrutiny involved in adopting a child and the complete absence of any assessment of someone's suitability to become a biological parent.

I know of another case where a mother drowned her child in the bath. She took the body to a lake and faked a drowning scene and called emergency services pretending the child had drowned. She got four years. It’s appalling.

There’s a high possibility she was already dead.

There really needs to be a licensing system for people to have children. It's unbelievable that we let just anyone do it, no matter how incapable they are.

The sentence should be a full life sentence. She killed tiny baby in the most hideous, hurtful way.
In addition to that, the mental health crisis is completely out of control at the moment after so much underinvestment in public services and we do need to realise that healthy, happy, secure people don’t kill babies and we should want a society where mental health problems are very unusual rather than a regular occurrence. Of course she was unstable to do that. Who would do it otherwise.
She is a monster, and a product of our negligent society.

Just as a matter of interest, what tax are you willing to pay to try fix things ?

I don’t think there’s a high possibility? As Gartshaw hasn’t said what actually happened, it does imply she might know she did something culpable. If people had seen her out with the baby and told her the baby looked very cold, they’d surely have noticed if the baby was already dead?

I think Gartshaw got in, accepted (and saw) that the baby was very cold and, instead of actively warming her up by holding her or getting her medical attention, she put a hairdryer on and pointed it at her - then went to sleep because she was pissed and out of it. The burns on the tiny baby were horrific. She must have screamed in agony, but Gartshaw either didn’t wake or half woke and just went back to sleep.

That’s just my opinion - but I think it’s a higher possibility than the baby already being dead when Gartshaw pointed the hairdryer at her.

You think healthy and mentally stable people a re e killing their babies?

The report says that the baby was probably hypothermic before she did this. Either way it's awful.

She wasn't suffering a mental illness. She was extremely drunk.
Not that that makes it any better, but just because someone does something horrific doesn't mean they're mentally ill.

20 years in prison for the undertaker who didn't bury dead customers. 7 for this freak.go figure.