Woman jailed for the death of her four-week-old infant son
A “mother” has been jailed for the death of her four-week-old son after she took him out to a nightclub and later fell asleep on him when she was drunk.
26-year-old Marina Tilby was sentenced to two years and four months in prison on Friday after a judge branded the incident a “dreadful case of maternal selfishness.”
Witnesses say Tilby was drinking heavily and repeatedly throwing and catching her son Darian Tilby inside a nightclub before taking him back to a caravan with two men she had met that night in New Quay, Mid Wales.
Tilby’s sister says the mother was so drunk, she couldn’t wake her up for one hour and 15 minutes while baby Darian was rushed to Bronglais hospital, where he later died.
According to Metro, Swansea Crown Court heard how the baby boy had been found unresponsive with blood in his mouth lying next to Tilby in the early hours of March 31, 2017.
Prosecutor Catherine Richards said Tilby had drunkenly fallen asleep on top of her child who then suffered a heart attack.
But medical evidence could not prove her rolling on top of him contributed to his death, nor could it rule out he may have suffered sudden infant death syndrome.
Judge Paul Thomas criticized Tilby, Llwyncelyn in Aberaeron, Ceredigion, for the “deliberate neglect” of her child.
Dyfed Thomas, defending, said the extent of Tilby’s guilty plea to the wilful neglect of her son was that “she was so intoxicated.”
Mr. Thomas said: “She took a catastrophic set of actions in deciding to go out that night and continuing to drink.
“She wishes to express to the court, the baby’s father and her own family her own remorse and feeling of guilt from that night.
“Her grief will fill her for the absence of her child for the rest of her days.”
He said Tilby, who was not in a relationship with her baby’s father, had been diagnosed with depression since his death and had “clearly suffered.”
Judge Thomas said it would never be known if doctors would have been able to save him if she had raised the alarm sooner.
He also expressed his “unease” that it could not be proved what caused the baby’s death.
The judge said: “It is a mother’s responsibility, a mother’s duty, and her natural instinct to put the care and safety of her four-week-old child above all else.
“You completely ignored that duty so you could get extremely drunk on a night out.
“So drunk were you that you fell into a deep sleep and slept on top of your baby.
“There came a time when he was not moving.
“He had blood in his mouth, but you didn’t realize because you were so drunk.
“You showed deliberate disregard for the welfare of your son.”