A mother has been handed an indefinite hospital order after admitting to killing her 10-year-old daughter.
Jaskirat Kaur, 33, denied murder but pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Shay Kang on the basis of diminished responsibility at Wolverhampton Crown Court in August.
The court heard Kaur was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and believed she was being targeted by “lasers and technology” before stabbing her daughter 11 times in the chest as she slept on Monday 4 March.
Hours after the stabbing, Kaur phoned West Midlands Police and said: “My kid is dead.”
When police arrived at the home in Robin Close, Rowley Regis, Kaur told officers she had seen “projections coming in and out” of the room, adding: “It was me (that killed her) because I didn’t want her getting took by.”
Kaur showed no emotion whilst being sentenced on Friday.
She previously admitted she had wanted to kill her daughter for the past seven months, telling detectives during a police interview: “They can’t adopt her, they can’t take her. It’s not going to make sense, but to me it does.
“I was worried about Shay growing up. I knew that there needed to be an end date.
“I would kill her again. I wanted her to die, I don’t regret it.”
A ‘fun-loving child’
In a tribute released by Brickhouse Primary School, Year 5 pupil Shay was described as a “bright, happy, fun-loving child who was well-liked by all”.
Kayleigh Colclough, a friend who Shay and her mother lived with for the first five years of the youngster’s life, said Shay “was an old soul – she was special, advanced, clever, funny”.
“I just have the best memories of her, she made me happy,” she told Sky News.
“She would make me feel warm. That’s the sort of person she was.”
Ms Colclough, who said Shay called her godmother or aunt, “fell to the ground” and “just screamed” when she found out she had been killed.
Kaur had “disgusted and disappointed” her, Ms Colclough added.
“She just doesn’t exist to me now,” she said. “At one point I had so much love for her as a sister, as a friend and there are certain points we had the best memories.
“But she just broke me when she took Shay and that’s one thing I can’t forgive.”
Ms Colclough said Kaur would have “angry outbursts” and while she knew she’d suffered “trauma”, she didn’t see any “signs of mental health” problems.
“I wanted it to go to trial. I just think it’s the easy way out,” she said of Kaur’s manslaughter plea.
She added: “For me, Shay will never be forgotten. I will always speak Shay’s name.
“Shay deserves justice. She’s a special child. She didn’t ask for a lot, she just wanted to be loved.
“I miss her and I’m heartbroken and I just want the world to change.”
Police have made a direct appeal to those involved in the murder of a teenager to finally bring her family closure, exactly 30 years after she disappeared.
Lindsay Rimer, 13, went out to buy a box of Corn Flakes late in the evening on 7 November 1994 and never returned home. Her body was found in a canal close to her home six months later.
Lindsay’s family have also marked this year’s anniversary with a renewed appeal for information from the public, particularly in the town of Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire where Lindsay lived and died.
“This person should be in prison, not us because that’s where we feel we’ve been for the last 30 years,” her sister Kate Rimer told Sky News.
Juliet Rimer was just one when her sister was killed but has recently been reading letters and diaries to gain a better understanding of a life cut short.
“It’s just, it’s a bit of a horror film that we have to do this,” she said. “The fact that I had a sister that I never knew who was murdered, I just can’t wrap my head around that. It’s had a massive impact on me.”
Kate, who played the part of her sister in a police reconstruction a year after her disappearance, says the family believes someone has information that could lead to her killer’s arrest.
More from UK
“It’s usually been my mum who does this but the emotional toll it’s taken on my parents means that they just can’t do this anymore.
“It’s incredibly emotional, it opens everything up, and it reflects back over 30 years ago and everything that we lived through then. And just the horror of a loved family member, a child being murdered, is a really bizarre situation. You live your normal life around that and then we’re opening up again to bring murder and death back into our family.”
Advertisement
In the years since Lindsay’s disappearance, police have spoken to more than 5,000 people and examined 1,200 vehicles. Two men were arrested and later released.
A new sighting of Lindsay after she left the convenience shop on the night she disappeared has been confirmed and police believe those in the community have vital information.
Detective Chief Inspector James Entwistle of West Yorkshire Police made a direct appeal to those who were involved in killing and disposing of her body.
“Has this been on your conscience for thirty years?” he said.
“It’s perfectly possible there’s more than one person involved, its perfectly possible there’s a vehicle involved. Maybe you didn’t murder Lindsay but you know exactly who did because you were there and that’s sat on your conscience for 30 years.
“Now is the time to come and talk to us, now is the time to draw a line under this and bring that closure for Lindsay’s family.”
New posters featuring Lindsay’s picture have gone up around Hebden Bridge as part of the appeal for information and an increased police presence will be in the town.
Juliet said: “It has been 30 years but Lindsey didn’t deserve this and we owe it to her as her family to keep doing this.”
Lucy Letby suggested she could give “tips” to a colleague on how to get away with murder, a public inquiry has heard.
The child serial killer exchanged WhatsApp messages in 2017 with union rep Hayley Griffiths about the US legal drama How To Get Away With Murder.
The discussion took place a year after the neonatal nurse was moved to clerical duties at the Countess of Chester Hospital following concerns she may have been deliberately harming babies.
In a message to Letby, Ms Griffiths wrote: “I’m currently watching a programme called how to get away with murder. I’m learning some good tips.”
Letby replied: “I could have given you some tips x”
Ms Griffiths said: “I need someone to practice on to see if I can get away with it.”
Letby wrote: “I can think of two people you could practice on and will help you cover it up x”
Ms Griffiths replied: “Deal. I will get thinking of a plan. Get the cruise booked as our getaway.”
The pair were working in the hospital’s risk and patient safety department a year before Letby was arrested on suspicion of multiple murders by Cheshire Police.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
7:22
How the police caught Lucy Letby
Ms Griffiths said she was aware of the concerns of foul play and the connection to Letby by September 2016.
Shahram Sharghy, representing some of the families of Letby’s victims, asked: “Given the severity of the allegations that were made, and would you agree they are possibly the most serious allegations that anybody could make against a healthcare professional, were you making light of those allegations when you were referring to potentially committing a crime?”
Ms Griffiths answered: “No.”
Mr Sharghy asked: “Can you even begin to imagine and put yourself in the position of the families of the babies who were harmed when they see those messages?”
Ms Griffiths said: “I know… I am so remorseful. As soon as I saw them myself I was upset and I can’t begin to imagine… I can only apologise and say I have learned. I can’t go back in time but I have reflected absolutely on it.”
Earlier, Ms Griffiths told counsel to the inquiry Rachel Langdale KC: “It was nothing more than a conversation. However, I truly and deeply regret having started that conservation… this is completely unprofessional, poor judgement on my behalf and completely insensitive. And for that, I can only apologise from the bottom of my heart.”
Letby, 34, from Hereford, is currently serving 15 whole-life orders.
She was convicted at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder six others between June 2015 and June 2016.
The Thirlwall Inquiry into the events surrounding her crimes is expected to sit until early 2015. The findings are expected by late autumn that year.
Three men have been arrested in connection with a deadly house explosion in Newcastle.
Seven-year-old Archie York and Jason Laws, who was in his 30s, were killed following the blast in Violet Close, in the Benwell and Elswick area of the city in October.
Police said at the time that six others were taken to hospital “with varying injuries” after the blast and subsequent fire.
Three men – two in their 30s and one in his 50s – have been arrested on suspicion of two counts of manslaughter, and the production of a Class B drug, namely cannabis, Northumbria Police said.
They all remain in police custody.
Detective Chief Inspector Katie Smith said: “This has been a truly tragic incident which resulted in the loss of two lives.
“As a result of our ongoing enquiries, three men have today been arrested in connection with the explosion.
“Our investigation will remain ongoing as we seek to provide answers to what has happened.
“We would continue to ask people to avoid speculation surrounding this incident both online and in the community.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:54
From October: Deadly blast destroys Newcastle house
The blast tore through a row of six properties divided into two flats each.
Drone footage showed how six flats in the middle of the building appeared to have been completely destroyed by the explosion and fire, while piles of debris could be seen in the street outside.
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Superintendent Darren Adams, from Northumbria Police, said on the day of the fire: “As a result of the incident in the early hours of this morning, a seven-year-old boy has sadly passed away.
“Despite the efforts of the emergency services, he tragically died at the scene.