Six-week-old girl died after religious fanatic mother stuffed Bible pages in her mouth and then sat on her



Detained indefinitely: Julia Lovemore admitted killing her baby Faith

A six-week-old girl being monitored by social workers died after her mentally-ill mother sat on her, a court heard.

Julia Lovemore, 41, had torn out pages of the Bible and stuffed them into baby Faith's mouth before smothering her.

She was yesterday detained indefinitely under the mental health act after admitting the manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility , which happened in June 2009.

Cambridge Crown Court heard she was a religious fanatic who had been in a 'florid state of psychoses' at the time of the killing.



Judge Mr Justice Cooke was told two health workers were at Lovemore's home on the day Faith was smothered.

A health visitor and a psychiatric nurse had been concerned about the behaviour of Lovemore's husband David, 39 - also a mentally-ill religious fanatic, the court heard.

When they arrived at the house in June last year they found Mr Lovemore praying loudly and shouting 'Take the devil out of Julia.'

He refused to answer questions and they left to consult with experts, fearing their presence was making him more agitated.



Later that day, Mr Lovemore turned up at his GP's surgery carrying the child's lifeless body.



He was accompanied by Faith's older sister who had been doused in white spirit but was otherwise unharmed. It is believed Faith was dead or dying when the social worker visited.



Judge Mr Justice Jeremy Cooke yesterday ordered that Mrs Lovemore be detained indefinitely under the mental health act.

The court heard how Mrs Lovemore, a Christian fundamentalist, had suffered at least three manic psychotic episodes since being diagnosed with bi-polar effective disorder in 1995.

Baby Faith's Mose's basket pictured in Julia Lovemore's home

Prosecutor John Farmer said he older daughter was put on the at risk register in November 2006 when her mother suffered a relapse and hit her with a hairbrush.

When Mrs Lovemore was 28 weeks pregnant with Faith a consultant psychologist concluded there was a 'high risk' of further relapse in the post-birth stage and monitoring was 'essential'.

Both Lovemores held extreme religious views and this coupled with their psychiatric history meant in June 2009 social workers scheduled a review of a protection order on the children.

Mr Farmer said: 'With hindsight it was judged both parents were deteriorating sharply. Profound mental ill health and engagement with religious beliefs turned out to be an explosive cocktail.

'On the day in question the two mental health professionals arrived and reached the conclusion that the situation was very unstable.'

Neither of them saw the defendant or Faith and the best interpretation of events suggests by then Faith was already dead or dying.

'There is no other reason why the husband was intensely engagement with prayer.'

In a statement Mrs Lovemore gave to police some time after her arrest she tried to explain her memories of that day.

She said: 'I sat in my bedroom and I was ripping pages out of my Bible. I put some small bits of paper in Faith's mouth and she spat them out.

'For some reason I sat on her, I was crying. I was bouncing on the bed. I don't know why I was sitting on her. I got bi-polar.'



In mitigation, Frances Oldham QC said Mrs Lovemore was responding well to psychiatric treatment but Faith's death 'could have been avoided'.

She said: 'Given her history and also the history of her husband this is a tragedy that could have been avoided. There was evidence of disengagement by Julia from the mental health services.'

Sentencing, Mr Justice Cooke said Mrs Lovemore's bi-polar disorder meant she suffered from grandiose delusions of special powers, religious delusions of identity and auditory hallucinations.

He said: 'You were profoundly mentally disordered which subsequently impaired the responsibility for what you did.'

Cambridgeshire Local Safeguarding Children Board Vice Chairman, Gordon Jeyes, said after the hearing that a serious case review had been conducted.

He said: 'The death of any child is a tragedy and we are deeply upset and saddened by what has happened.

'The circumstances around this death were exceptional. There were complex issues within the family around mental health, and the practice of their religious beliefs.

'The report highlights that agencies did work effectively with the family and that there was good communication between practitioners.

'The report also highlights that the link between the family's background of mental illness, and the way they chose to practice their religious beliefs, was not sufficiently understood.'

