A woman who admitted causing the death of her newborn baby son in Morecambe when she was 15-years-old has been spared jail.
Police were called to Sinead Tippett’s home address in Morecambe in February 2022, after the teenager told her school she had given birth the previous night.
When interviewed by police Tippett – who had initially denied being pregnant - said she had given birth to the baby – who was named Cameron – in her bedroom on the evening of January 31st. She claimed the baby was not breathing so she cuddled him, wrapped him in towels and put him in a shoebox in her wardrobe before going to school the next morning.
But a postmortem examination showed the baby boy had been born alive and had maintained a separate existence from his mother. The examination gave the cause of death as suffocation.
Following a complex and challenging investigation the Crown Prosecution Service authorised a charge of infanticide – causing the death of a child under 12 months by a wilful act at a time when the balance of her mind was disturbed by reason of not having fully recovered from the effect of giving birth to the child.
Tippett, now 19, of Preston admitted the charge last October in a hearing at Preston Crown Court.
On Monday (February 2) she was sentenced to a three-year community order and a 20 day rehabilitation order.
Det Insp Tris Hardwick, of Lancashire Police’s Force Major Investigation Team, said: “This is an absolutely tragic case involving the death of a newborn baby boy and the impact on all those involved has been immeasurable - I cannot begin to imagine the pain they have suffered.
“While no sentence can ever compensate for the loss of a loved one, I hope at least that the conclusion of these proceedings gives them some of the answers they have been seeking and the opportunity to move forward with their lives as best they can.”
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