This seems awfully harsh

[deriT]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-34491753

According to the BBC:

A mother has been jailed for five years after her toddler son drowned in a garden pond while she chatted on Facebook.
[...]
Defence barrister Timothy Roberts, QC, said Barnett had been getting ready to take the family's dog for a walk.
"She became distracted by a Facebook comment that was posted to her rather than the other way around," he said.
"Any mother going about the house can be distracted by a telephone or a washing machine."
Passing sentence, Judge Jeremy Richardson QC said Barnett's "lamentably appalling parenting led to fatal consequences".
He added: "If you should have any further children, they will almost certainly be removed from you.
"You pose very serious risks to any child for whom you have responsibility."

Well, unless there is more to this story, yes, she made a stupid mistake. But isn't this a bit too harsh? Her child died FFS, surely she has suffered enough?

There's a bit more info in the local press reporting

It seems there had been concerns going back to 2013 years (when neighbours contacted authorities about the welfare of the child, as she was not preventing him playing on the road even when he could have been no more than an infant).

They don't say his long she'd been on FB (and I bet that sort of thing can be discovered and presented in evidence).

"Hull Crown Court also heard how Barnett had let Joshua play out in the road when she lived in Chancewaters, Kingswood, Hull, in August 2013.

Neighbours contacted social services after he narrowly avoided being hit by a car.

Barnett pleaded guilty to four counts of child cruelty.

Judge Jeremy Richardson told her: "Your son died due to your neglectful conduct. You will have to live with that for the remainder of your life.

"For a parent to behave as you did, repeatedly, amounts to consistently bad parenting."

Sounds like there was more to it than a momentary distraction

I thought it was harsh too but assumed there was more that we hadn't been told to warrant such extreme comments.

Looks like it was part of a pattern of neglectful parenting. I let my 22mo and 4yo play outside on their own - but with the back doors wide open and me in the room nearest the garden, and never ever if there is any water out there (the garden is totally enclosed so they can't get out). If there's so much as a bucket of water out there to play with I watch them all the time.

DS's school is near a duck pond which means I have the heebie-jeebies every drop off and pick up as they love to stand and say hello to the birds and I hate them standing next to water!

If you read the history, no it doesn't

BBC has made it seem harsh but I can only assume there is a long back story. I thought exactly like you, surely losing DC would be enough punishment but clearly there is more to it.

The way the BBC have reported it does make it sound harsh.

But the extra detail in the local news (here's another one [http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/main-topics/general-news/mother-jailed-for-five-years-after-two-year-old-drowns-in-pond-1-7507362]] ) suggests that she's had a track record of not keeping an eye on the child, rather than it being a case of an ordinary and normally vigilant parent having a lapse of concentration. Sounds like it was an absolutely massive pond too, 13m long.

Clicky link... www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/main-topics/general-news/mother-jailed-for-five-years-after-two-year-old-drowns-in-pond-1-7507362