Danielle Massey, 31, has been jailed for seven years for manslaughter after leaving her seven-month-old baby Charlie Goodall in an ill-fitted bath seat and returning to find him drowned.
She said she had gone to fetch a towel and gave varying stories of how long she left him for, ranging from two to ten minutes – but a judge believed she was playing on a cooking game on her phone in the living room.
Charlie was airlifted to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle from their home in Chilton, Ferryhill on February 16, 2022, but died shortly after arrival.
Massey, of Raby Terrace, Ferryhill admitted killing her son at an earlier court hearing and was jailed by a judge at Teesside Crown Court on Wednesday (December 18).
Imprisoning her to seven years in jail judge Mr Justice Goss said: “I rejected your basis of plea and found that you left [Charlie] unattended for a prolonged period of time in the bath – unsupervised in a bath seat that was unsuitable for use in that bath and from which he fell – including some 26 minutes playing a game on your mobile phone in the living room.
“Charlie was a loved child who you didn’t set out to harm. His tragic death was a consequence of your blatant disregard for the risk of death resulting from your negligent conduct that afternoon.
“His life was taken from him just as it was starting, and he was taken from his family.
“Nothing can be done by this court to undo the harm you have caused.”
The mum-of-four, whose older children were previously taken from her care after she left them home alone to go shopping, has previous convictions for drug driving and smoked cannabis daily, the court heard.
Charlie had been subject of a care protection plan until six days before his death when he was downgraded to being a ‘child in need’.
Shortly before his death Massey’s mum had witnessed him as being “his usual happy self”.
A trial of issue took place at Teesside Crown Court this week – a type of hearing where a judge rules on the facts in a case when guilt has already been admitted – as Massey had disagreed with the prosecution’s version of events.
She accepted that she had left Charlie in the ill-fitted bath seat while she went to get a towel but said she had to sit down on the sofa on the way back as she was suffering an asthma attack and closed her eyes to practice a breathing technique, but could not say if she had fallen asleep.
“I went into the bathroom and found Charlie on his side and not breathing. I picked him up and tried to do CPR,” she told the court of her return to the bathroom.
When arrested she told a police officer: “It’s all my fault. I killed my baby.”
Making submissions today (Wednesday), prosecutor Mr Richard Wright KC said her version of events had “changed with regularity throughout the investigation and even during these proceedings”.
“We submit that her evidence simply lacks all credibility and that the court can confidently reject it for being an artificial construct,” he added.
But Massey’s counsel Mr Martin Sharpe said she had accepted that she killed her son throughout.
“She did lack organisation,” Mr Sharpe said. “She did not follow the instructions and she should never have left Charlie unattended.”
Mr Justice Goss ruled with the prosecution’s version of events before passing the seven-year sentence.
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The 31-year-old pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis and had smoked a joint on the day her son died at their home on West Chilton Terrace.
She received no other sentence for that offence but the judge order the drugs being seized.
Mr Justice Goss added: “I express my condolences to those members of family who have been affected by the tragic death of Charlie.”
