Mother Jailed After Playing Game While Baby Drowned in Bath
A mother has been sentenced to seven years for manslaughter after her baby drowned while she played a game on her phone, leaving him unsupervised.
County Durham, Charlie Goodall, Danielle Massey, Manslaughter, Drowning
County Durham: So, there’s this really tragic story about a mom, Danielle Massey, who got sent to prison for seven years. It all happened when her baby boy, Charlie, drowned in the bathtub while she was busy playing a cooking game on her phone.
Charlie was just seven months old and fell out of his bath seat. Danielle had left him alone for a bit at their home. When the paramedics arrived, they found him unresponsive in the water. It’s heartbreaking, right?
In court, she admitted it was her fault for not securing the bath seat properly. She also confessed to having smoked some cannabis that day. But she insisted she didn’t mean to leave Charlie alone for too long, claiming she just went upstairs to grab a towel.
But here’s the kicker: the court found out she had been using the game app for about 26 minutes while Charlie was unattended. The judge didn’t buy her story about being exhausted and closing her eyes. He said she was clearly awake and active.
Before this, Danielle and Charlie had been living in a mother and toddler unit, and just days before the incident, a child protection plan had ended. The judge pointed out that she had even taken a course on how to bathe a baby, so she knew better than to leave him alone.
It’s just a really sad situation all around. The judge made it clear that this wasn’t just a simple mistake; it was a choice she made to focus on her phone instead of her baby. It’s a tough lesson, and it’s hard to imagine what she’s going through now.