A BARNSLEY mum who was suffering from severe depression and psychosis when she smothered her baby to death in a Leeds park has been sentenced to a hospital order under the Mental Health Act.

Hayley MacFarlane, 39, of Carrington Street, was initially charged with the murder of her six-month-old daughter Evelyn following an incident at Woodhouse Moor Park last December.

However the prosecution accepted her guilty plea to infanticide at Leeds Crown Court last month.

Infanticide is legally defined as the unlawful killing of a child aged under 12 months by its biological mother, when at the time the ‘balance of the mother’s mind was disturbed’.

At Sheffield Crown Court today (Wednesday), she was given a hospital order - which is 'indefinite' but will last for an initial three years before a discharge team assess her - after Judge Christina Lambert ruled out a prison order given Mrs MacFarlane’s mental health record, her history of seeking help and the ‘profound remorse she immediately showed'.

She added: “I accept there was a clear link between your mental health state and this offence, which you are sorry for.

“I have no doubt that you would not have committed this offence if your mental state was not as it was - witnesses say you were a gentle, caring mother who suffered greatly with post-partum depression and you felt anxious about harming Evelyn’s development, despite her feeding well and hitting all her targets.

“You have shown profound remorse and at no stage denied what you had done - indeed you sought help on a number of occasions and medical notes say you were progressing well.

“A life prison term - which is available for this offence - is wholly disproportionate and in this case a hospital order has to be imposed."