MOTHER JAILED FOR SMOTHERING DAUGHTER WITH PIGLET TOY
A woman from the Greater Manchester area has been handed a life sentence after being found guilty of killing her three-year-old daughter by smothering her with a Piglet plush toy.Helen Caudwell, 42 years old, denied she had murdered Bethany at her Stockport home on 2 October of last year.
Judge Clement Goldstone QC ordered that she serve at least eight years before being eligible for parole at Manchester Crown Court.
Throughout her trial, evidence was presented that Caudwell maintained a secret double life, leading two men to believe each was Bethany's biological father.
Both Mark Davies and Miles Kennerley believed they were the father.
After her death, DNA tests confirmed that Mr Davies was Bethany's biological dad.
In pronouncing the sentence, Judge Goldstone stated: "Depressed you may have been but you were, as the jury found, responsible for your actions." He added that she had caused "indescribable pain and grief" to Bethany’s loved ones, including both men, noting the intricacies of her deception involving each.
A colleague from Caudwell's employer, Morrisons, contacted her on 3 October after she failed to attend work.
Caudwell confessed to her co-worker, "I won't have a job anymore.
I have done something stupid.
I have suffocated Bethany." Rescuers and colleagues discovered Bethany dead in her bed, with her Piglet toy nearby, which was later found to contain her blood and saliva.
Caudwell, who had three teenage children, had also attempted to harm herself by slashing her wrists and was hospitalized.
She reportedly said: "I couldn't let him take her." A note left by Caudwell explained her fear of Mr Kennerley's impact on her life, describing her inability to cope.
She claimed during her trial that her mental state was impaired, termed as abnormality of the mind" which she argued reduced her responsibility.
Bethany was conceived in 2005 during her marriage to her first husband, Ian Caudwell, while she was also involved in affairs with Mr Davies and Mr Kennerley.
Later, she married Mr Kennerley but was undergoing divorce proceedings at the time of Bethany’s death.
In the months prior, she showed signs of depression linked to her marriage and fears about her future with Bethany, contemplating not wanting Mr Kennerley to have access and expressing suicidal thoughts.
After sentencing, Mr Kennerley released a statement expressing his grief: "I brought Bethany up as my daughter for three years and three months.
She used to call me dad.
She was my angel." He also described the emotional toll, noting that discovering she was not his biological daughter hurt deeply, but his affection remained unchanged, despite the pain.
Outside court, Detective Andy Tattersall from Greater Manchester Police called the case profoundly sad and tragic, emphasizing the irreversible damage caused.
He commented that while reasons for Caudwell’s actions might remain unclear, her crime has inflicted severe suffering and ended a young life.
He concluded by saying: "Helen Caudwell will live with the consequences of her actions for the rest of her life."
