Image source, SuppliedDahlia-Rose was found with severe burn injuries
A mother who killed her baby daughter by burning her with a hairdryer has been jailed for six years.
Courtney Gartshore, 28, used the appliance to subject three-month-old Dahlia-Rose to “significant and sustained heat” on her head and body.
Emergency services were called to the scene at a property in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, in September 2023, but the child had died.
Gartshore was convicted of culpable homicide following a trial at the High Court in Aberdeen in July.
Sentencing Gartshore at the High Court in Edinburgh, judge Simon Collins described the case “uniquely disturbing and distressing”.
He said it was “tragic as well as terrible”.
Image source, Police ScotlandGartshore denied culpable homicide
Her defence had argued the baby may have already been dead before the burn injuries, but a jury took just over an hour to return the guilty verdict.
The trial heard that Dahlia-Rose suffered severe burns to 18% of the surface area of her body, including her head.
The jury was spared having to see photos of the injuries.
They were also told that Gartshore had consumed alcohol before the incident.
The jury was played a recording of a 999 call made by Gartshore in which she said her child had gone “purple” while she was asleep.
The trial heard that the infant’s DNA was found on a hairdryer.
However expert witness Dr Timothy Burge, a burns specialist, told the court that it was his view the heat injuries did not cause the baby’s death.
“It could have been that she was already dead,” he said.
Gartshore was convicted at the High Court in Aberdeen
Advocate depute Alan Cameron KC, prosecuting, described the case as an “awful, heartbreaking event”.
In his closing speech, he said that there were only two people in the property – the accused and her baby daughter – so only the accused could have turned the hairdryer on.
He referred to evidence from witnesses who saw no injuries on Dahlia-Rose’s body in the hours leading up to her death.
The prosecutor told the jury they did not need to answer the question of why the hairdryer was turned on, but suggested the alcohol consumption as a possible explanation.
He said that they should not be moved by “sympathy or prejudice” and asked them to find Gartshore guilty of culpable homicide.
However Murray Macara, KC, defending, said in his closing speech that the charge stated the injuries were what killed the baby – and suggested the “necessary causal connection” between the hairdryer and the death had not been made.
The judge had thanked the jury after the verdict, and told them counselling services were available if needed.
Gartshore was unanimously found guilty of culpably and recklessly causing Dahlia-Rose to be subjected to heat from the appliance while the child was in her sole care.
The charge stated that Dahlia-Rose’s injuries were so severe that she died as a result.
Speaking after the conviction, Det Insp James Callander said: “Children are defenceless and should be protected.
“The death of any child is particularly harrowing, but a child’s death at the hands of a parent is incredibly disturbing.
“Everyone involved in this investigation was deeply affected by the circumstances of Dahlia-Rose’s death, but our job is to uncover the truth and ensure that the person responsible is brought to justice.”
