Harriet's Happenings (THE NEWS)

A mother drowned her four-year-old daughter in a bath because she was couldn't come to terms with her mild cerebral palsy, a court heard.

By John Bingham
Last Updated: 8:42PM BST 08 Sep 2008

Joanne Hill dressed her daughter Naomi's body as if nothing was amiss and drove her around for eight hours, drinking several glasses of wine, before taking her to hospital claiming she was unconscious, a jury was told.

The 32-year-old advertising saleswoman is alleged to have planned the murder at her home in Deeside, Flintshire, after her husband Simon refused to sanction having his daughter adopted.

A jury at Chester Crown Court heard that Hill struggled to cope with caring for her daughter, who wore callipers to help her walk and had poor hearing.

Hill, who denies murder but admits manslaughter, told police after her arrest that she had been suffering from suicidal thoughts before the killing on November 26 last year and later suggested she was psychotic.

Opening the case against Hill at her murder trial, prosecutor Michael Chambers QC said she had appeared "entirely normal" at work just hours before the killing.

When she got home she put the bath on to run before going downstairs to have a glass of wine while telling the girl it was bath time, he said.

She then carried her upstairs, undressed her and pout her into the bath before holding her head down under the water until she was dead, the jury were told.

Dressing the dead girl in dungarees and a pink and yellow top, she set off in the family Renault Megane, bringing a bottle of wine, he said.

At one point she is alleged to have "joked" with staff at a patrol station about using a Matalan reward card to pay for fuel as she had no money...

Sick is all I have to say about this.

I don't plan on reading the article...the title makes me sick to my stomach.

Having a child with a severe disability can be extremely difficult and i try not to judge...however, there is no excuse for what this mother did...if she could not cope with raising a handicapped child then she should have given her up for adoption.

I agree, Samantha.

My husband's brother has a daughter with Downs Symdrome and they did fine with her. His niece is now married.

We've allowed abortions since the 70's, so why should this surprise anyone?? It is the downward slide of people having no value for human life. JMO...

Kathleen Marie wrote:

We've allowed abortions since the 70's, so why should this surprise anyone?? It is the downward slide of people having no value for human life. JMO...

well..i am surprised at this story...especially since what this mother did has absolutely nothing to do with abortion...

In 2008, people have no less value for human life than before abortion was legalized....just because it wasn't legal didn't mean that people didn't have them..whatever thier reasons were...even to the point of performing dangerous surgeries on themselves...
unfortunatly there never was a "golden era" where family values were central to every day living...it just comforts us to think that such a time existed...

for the record Kathy, I am pro life...very much so...but I don't like to criminalize woman who choose abortion...it is far too easy to say that others don't value human life...every life story is different...

Samantha, I am not criminalizing women who have had an abortion because I would be criminalizing myself since I had one when I was 21 years old. I am now 46 years old and I can still remember every detail of that day like it was yesterday. I will NEVER get over what I did nor will I ever forget what happened to me and how it changed me overall as a person. I also know that God has forgiven me for what I did, although I wish I could. I find it hard to believe that since abortion has been so readily available since the 70's that the value of human life hasn't diminished. I know horrible things have always happened in this fallen world, but when you start at conception and say it isn't a baby and go from there, it is a downward spiral in our country and world. So, please spare me any talk about criminalizing a woman unless you've gone through the experience and can relate to my feelings and opinions on this subject. This is one area that I will NEVER be anything but passionate about since I lived it in my own life.

Another thing is the point I was making is that why are people so shocked at how children are being abused and killed now and days when we feel it is okay to take a human life inside the womb?? I also had worked for a doctor who took a huge majority of Medicaid patients and a lot of the women readily admitted that they used abortion as a form of birth control. It is sickening to me. They also dispose of a baby if they find out it has downs syndrome....

Enough said....

Kathleen Marie wrote:

Another thing is the point I was making is that why are people so shocked at how children are being abused and killed now and days when we feel it is okay to take a human life inside the womb??

I very much agree...
I heard about a woman (9 months pregnant) who shot herself in the stomach to enduce abortion and yet the state of Virginia can't find anything to charge her with

That is sick Carol!!

Carol wrote:

Kathleen Marie wrote:

Another thing is the point I was making is that why are people so shocked at how children are being abused and killed now and days when we feel it is okay to take a human life inside the womb??

I very much agree...
I heard about a woman (9 months pregnant) who shot herself in the stomach to enduce abortion and yet the state of Virginia can't find anything to charge her with

When was this Carol? I am in VA, and never heard of that.

And also, I will say I agree with Samantha about how everyone's situation is different, and that's why I am pro choice. I know she is not, but I am. In the case of rape or insest it should be able to remain a choice.

But I do also agree with Kathleen Marie, with how some ladies use it as a form of birth control. I see it all the time around here, and I know of young girls who sleep with whomever and then have an abortion. That I do not agree with.

Like Kathleen Marie, I have made my own mistake. Kudos to you for sharing that.

God bless you all.

LindsayCrouseFan wrote:

When was this Carol? I am in VA, and never heard of that.

Here is the article on it:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/LegalCenter/story?id=2585102

Has this woman heard of birth control? She has two young children, and was about to give birth to a third.

Unbelievable....why didn't she just have the baby and give him or her up for adoption???

No kidding!! She was about to give birth that morning. I do believe though, that if a mother's life is at risk, and an abortion is the only way to save her, then it should be performed.

Carol, thanks for the article.

The fact that she was telling the police that her boyfriend shot her in the stomach, instead of the truth that she in fact shot herself, shows that she knew exactly what she was doing and she planned on how to "cover her tracks".

Kathleen Marie wrote:

The fact that she was telling the police that her boyfriend shot her in the stomach, instead of the truth that she in fact shot herself, shows that she knew exactly what she was doing and she planned on how to "cover her tracks".

Some people! I don't think it said what part of VA., but I had not heard of it, so it could not have been local.

She knew what she was doing.

Kathleen Marie wrote:

Samantha, I am not criminalizing women who have had an abortion because I would be criminalizing myself since I had one when I was 21 years old. I am now 46 years old and I can still remember every detail of that day like it was yesterday. I will NEVER get over what I did nor will I ever forget what happened to me and how it changed me overall as a person. I also know that God has forgiven me for what I did, although I wish I could. I find it hard to believe that since abortion has been so readily available since the 70's that the value of human life hasn't diminished. I know horrible things have always happened in this fallen world, but when you start at conception and say it isn't a baby and go from there, it is a downward spiral in our country and world. So, please spare me any talk about criminalizing a woman unless you've gone through the experience and can relate to my feelings and opinions on this subject. This is one area that I will NEVER be anything but passionate about since I lived it in my own life.

Kathy...I apologize if I hurt your feelings....that was never my intention...
I understood completly that you are VERY passionate about this issue...and i was not implying otherwise...
I chose the wrong words..."criminalize" is a very strong word...and it was not appropriate...please do not think that i was trying to preach to you....but my experiences and feelings are also valid...
I am very sorry...

That's okay Samantha, writing things on the computer does not always show the persons intentions since you can't see or talk to the person expressing themselves in person.

I thought this would be a good thread to include any news articles we might like to share.  It might be easier to just link stories rather than post them on the board, especially if they're very depressing or horrific articles...

With all the crazy economy issues, sometimes we forget about our environmental issues at hand. This article is about the unpredicted and unexpected warming of the Western Antarctic, which they believe wil result in rising sea levels:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090225/ap_on_sc/un_un_warming_antarctic