A UK mother, who was accused of suffocating her two-month-old baby to death, allegedly smiled while telling a social worker that she had killed her son. She said she chose the easier option between self-harming and killing the child.
A court heard on February 15 that the mother, Hannah Turtle, told social worker Fleur O'Hagan that she had put her hand over her son James' mouth to choke him while he was sleeping, stated a Daily Post report.
Mold Crown Court heard that Hannah was visited by two social workers before her police interview because they were afraid she might self-harm. Hannah talked very calmly to O'Hagan and said she had committed the murder after asking O'Hagan's colleague to leave politely.
According to Fleur, Hannah said she had not been able to tell the truth to the police before as they were too many people there. When the social worker suggested, in a bid to empathize with her, that the child might have been crying, Hannah said James was peacefully sleeping in his crib.
"I just put my hand over his face for a few seconds and he stopped breathing," the 22-year-old mother from North Wales told the social worker, reports Daily Post. "It was either this or self-harming."
Hannah said she had never tried to kill her son before but had previously thought of pinching him. She also admitted she should have called her mother-in-law earlier, but she was afraid how her husband and his mother would react when they found out about her actions.
The witness, Fleur O'Hagan, said she went out to speak to the police after talking to Hannah, and when she returned, the accused seemed to be in a completely different mood.
She then said the voice of a family member in her head had told her repeatedly that she was a bad mother and did not deserve James. That is why she decided to end his life. The social worker also said Hannah did not show any emotion while saying this, but had a "slight smile on her face."
Turtle has denied charges of murder, three counts of ill-treatment and two of administering poison to her late son James. The trial is ongoing.
