A mother who was accused of murdering her three-year-old daughter told police that she drowned her in the bath because she wanted to stop the little girl being 'anywhere near' her estranged husband.

Claire Colebourn, 36, sobbed in the dock as jurors at Winchester Crown Court in Hampshire were read a police interview where she admitted to drowning little Bethan Colebourn - though she continues to deny murder.

In the interview, six months after her arrest, the former science teacher, who had split from husband Michael Colebourn, said she intended to kill herself as her domestic situation was getting 'worse and worse'.

She told officers she thought it was best that Bethan also died and that 'I didn't want her to be in pain'.

The mother said she was 'responsible for her death'.

Claire Colebourn, 36, said she drowned her daughter Bethan, three, because she didn't want her anywhere near her estranged husband Michael

However, Colebourn said that after drowning her daughter she failed to take her own life despite stabbing herself, trying to hang herself and trying to drown herself.

After hearing the alleged confession today, a distressed Colebourn jumped from her seat in the dock, telling the court she 'needed to get out'.

It has been heard she wrongly believed her chief executive husband Michael, 38, was having an affair with a work colleague when he left her a month before the death of their daughter.

Police rushed to the £400,000 home the couple had shared in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, on October 19, 2017, after Colebourn's mother discovered Bethan dead and her daughter in a diabetic coma.

Michael Colebourn outside Winchester Crown Court after his estranged wife admitted to drowning their daughter

Little Bethan, whose hair was still wet, had already laid dead for almost a day and medics were unable to save her.

Prosecutor Kerry Maylin today said that Colebourn had confessed to drowning her daughter in the interview with police.

In the interview, Colebourn had said: 'I can't be a liar, I can't do it - Bethan drowned. I am going to have to go against legal advice.

'Bethan drowned and I am responsible for her death. She drowned and I am responsible, fully responsible.

'I was there, I held her under the water.

'I woke up, I went upstairs, I think Bethan was waking and I ran a bath. [Bethan] went in and I held her under the water's surface.

'Why did I do that? Because I didn't want her to go anywhere near her father. Whether that was right or wrong, that is desperate times for you.

'I took her downstairs to the bedroom. I can remember Walter [the family dog] was stretched out on the bed and I had to shove him in the kitchen.

'I put [Bethan] in bed because that was where she always slept. I wrapped her under my arm.

'At this point, I think I must have injected insulin with my pump and then I went to sleep.

'When I woke, I started on myself. I tried to hang myself, drown myself and then stabbed myself when I was in bed with Bethan.

'My intention was to die.

'I have no idea why I didn't. How on earth the paramedics brought me back round from that amount of insulin, I don't know.

'I can't tell you my feelings at the time because I can't remember them. I now realise it was pure and utter fear. Fear and anxiety.

Police outside of the address where Bethan's body was found and where Claire was aided by paramedics

'Fear of Michael. I was fearful of abuse, emotional abuse. I thought if he could do that to me, I didn't want him to do it to Bethan.

'My only thought was keeping Bethan safe.

'I thought ''this is just getting worse and worse''. I decided that was it, I was going to give up.

'Then I set my alarm and I woke up in the morning. She was my world, no one could take that away from me.

'I knew Bethan and I knew how she slept. I knew she would be sleepy. I didn't want her to be in pain in any way, shape or form.

'She knew, she knew I was not right. She kept coming to me and saying she missed me. She was putting her hands on my cheeks and telling me she loved me.

Tributes to the three-year-old left outside of the family home. She was found by her grandmother

Paramedics and police officers attempted to perform CPR on the youngster but they were unable to save her

'She went to the bathroom, saw the bath running and just said ''I don't want a bath mummy, I don't want a bath''.

'I have never been so stressed in my life. Then I drowned my daughter, I drowned my own daughter.

'It's going to haunt me for the rest of my life. Her whole body jumped after holding her for a while.

'She didn't fight against my hand. Her arms were tucked under her. I think sadly, very sadly for her now, she had complete and utter trust in me, didn't she.

'It is very sad for her, because she shouldn't have, should she.'

After hearing the interview read aloud to jurors, Colebourn rushed from her seat to a corner of the dock. Jurors were told by judge Mrs Justice Cutts the defendant had been distressed and was being allowed to take a break.

They have heard police rushed to the family's converted bungalow after being called by Colebourn's distraught mother.

Janet Fildew, 63, who at first thought Bethan was asleep, said the youngster's 'little mouth was blue' and she was 'so cold'.

Paramedics and police officers attempted to perform CPR on the youngster, who had fluid coming from her nose and mouth, but they were unable to save her.

Colebourn, who was found snorting and gurgling, also had to be treated, having allegedly injected around ten times the normal 30 unit daily amount of insulin.