Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Advertisement A mother has been detained indefinitely in a mental hospital for smothering her four-year-old daughter. Zoe David, 34, who suffers a severe form of paranoid schizophrenia, killed Zoe-Ann David at their Newport home. She admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility at Cardiff Crown Court. The case is being reviewed by the Newport Safeguarding Children Board, after it emerged that the girl had been on a child protection register in 2007. The court was told that David acted after the little girl said she wanted to "go home", which the defendant interpreted as "take me home to heaven". 'Continuing risk' Recorder of Cardiff Nicholas Cooke QC said the case had been correctly described as a family tragedy, adding there was "no rational motive for this offence whatsoever". He said: "The horrific act was the product of the severe mental illness from which Zoe David was suffering at the time and from which she continues to suffer." He detained her under the Mental Health Act 1983 as a continuing risk to herself and family members. Here the court is concerned with the death of a small child - in the eye of the law that life was just as precious as anyone's

Recorder of Cardiff Nicholas Cooke QC The body of Zoe-Ann was found in her bedroom in Maesglas, Newport, on 19 June, by an ambulance crew who had been called to treat her mother. Zoe David was found lying nearby with serious injuries, after cutting herself with a razor blade. She had taken a large dose of paracetamol and told ambulance staff to leave her alone, saying she was "not supposed to wake". Zoe-Ann was found lying face down in her pyjamas. David had denied murder and her guilty plea of manslaughter by diminished responsibility was accepted by the prosecution. Dafydd Enoch QC, prosecuting, said: "She showed signs of mental illness in the days leading up to the incident. She told police in interviews how she thought her daughter's life was in danger. "She was wholly convinced that her four-year-old daughter was in danger of being horribly killed. That was her perception." David began to cry as the case was laid out and was excused from the dock by the recorder on the grounds that it was a medical opinion that her mental condition might deteriorate if she heard the facts. After sentencing he rose briefly "to recognise the enormity of what has happened here, particularly at this time of the year". He said: "Here the court is concerned with the death of a small child. I think it's important that it should be recognised that in the eye of the law that life was just as precious as anyone's." 'Terrible tragedy' Patrick Harrington QC, defending, said: "Tragic is a much overused word. In this case it's an understatement of the awfulness of what happened." After the sentencing, Gwent Police Detective Superintendent Harry Gamlin said the youngster's death was a "terrible tragedy for her family and the surrounding community". He added: "Zoe's mother will now get the treatment she needs. "Our thoughts are with young Zoe's extended family who have been given support throughout this investigation by our specially-trained family liaison officers. We hope the conclusion of the case brings them some closure." An inquiry is to examine the decision two years earlier to take the youngster off the child protection register. Zoe-Ann was placed on the child protection register by the Newport Safeguarding Children Board when her family moved to the city from London in 2007. In a statement, the Newport's Safeguarding Children Board said: "The review will establish whether there are any lessons to be learnt about the way in which agencies work together to safeguard children. "It is our understanding Zoe Ann that had previously been on the Child Protection Register in Newport in 2007 and any relevant information relating to the work of agencies with the family will be considered during the Serious Case Review process. "The focus of all agencies is to give every possible support to those affected by this tragedy."



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