Baby killer to be detained for up to 20yrs

More than four years after a mother murdered her six-month-old daughter, a judge has ordered her to be detained for up to 20 years.

A Sydney mother who drowned her six-month-old baby in a bath because she believed she was an "imposition" on her "perfect life" will be detained for up to 20 years.

The mother, who cannot be identified, was found guilty earlier this month of murdering her baby, who was discovered floating in the bathtub of her home in Sydney's inner west on November 18, 2010.

The 39-year-old had faced a special hearing after she was diagnosed with schizophrenia and deemed unfit to stand trial.

Justice Geoffrey Bellew found the mother intentionally killed her "defenceless and vulnerable" daughter because she viewed her as an "imposition upon and an interference in her life".

"The offender's actions... represented a serious breach of trust and a complete abandonment of maternal responsibility."

The court has previously heard the mother was "obsessed with perfection" and had raised concerns with doctors shortly after the girl's birth about skin tags on her ears.

Despite every medical reassurance to the contrary, the mother became convinced she had achondroplasia - the medical term for dwarfism.

Two days before the girl's death, she told a friend that if her daughter did not fit into her "perfect family", she would "jump with her over a cliff or throw her into the bin".

Justice Bellew found on Friday that while he believed the mother had thought about killing her baby prior to the girl's death, it was not planned.

Since the girl's death, he said she had shown no remorse, even telling her mum in a recorded conversation that she would "sue for f***ing compensation" if she was placed into custody.

Due to her mental illness Justice Bellew referred the matter to the Mental Health Review Tribunal to decide what facility she should be held in.


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