Cody-Anne Jackson jailed for suffocating daughter, 2 Published duration 27 July 2017

image copyright Staffordshire Police image caption Cody-Anne Jackson sent a photo of her daughter Macey Hogan before killing her

A mum who suffocated her two-year-old daughter after sending the toddler's father "one last picture" of her has been jailed for a minimum of 16 years.

Cody-Anne Jackson killed Macey Hogan after texting her ex a message reading: "Sorry, just thought you deserved one last picture and memory of her."

The 20-year-old, of Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent, denied murder but changed her plea part-way through her trial.

She was jailed for life at Stafford Crown Court.

His Honour Judge Michael Chambers QC told the young mother she had committed a "wicked and appalling act".

She also tried to take her own life because she was angry and resentful towards Macey's father Paul Hogan after he ended their relationship a week earlier, the court heard.

Staffordshire Police released the harrowing 999 call made by Jackson after she smothered the little girl.

The little girl's body was found on the floor in a bedroom on the morning of 10 October last year after officers broke into her home.

media caption Child-killing mum's 999 call as police break in

Jackson, who was in the same room attempting CPR, was found with "superficial" chest, neck and wrist injuries.

She had written a suicide note before the killing, stating: "There's nothing for me or Macey."

Before changing her plea, Jackson claimed she woke up and found Macey's cold body next to her in bed, in between two pillows.

image copyright Google image caption Police broke in through the front door at the house in Packett Street, Fenton

Judge Chambers, the Recorder of Stafford, told her: "You have had the courage to plead guilty and recognise the enormity of what you have done.

"I accept that may not have come easy but this remains a very serious case - for a mother to kill her young child, who depends on her for protection above all others, is a wicked and appalling act.

"This is not a case where you suffered from mental illness. The clear inference is that you thought about killing yourself and decided to kill Macey as well to prevent her having a life without a mother.

"That was an expression of utter self-absorption."

'Cold and callous'

Det Insp Dan Ison, of Staffordshire Police, said: "This was not a killing that occurred due to a struggling single parent, nor was it a killing where in some perverse way it was felt that Macey was being protected from someone or something.

"This was a killing that was cold and callous and set to exact revenge on Paul Hogan as he had broken off the relationship with Cody-Anne Jackson."

"It is absolutely unforgivable that a beautiful and healthy child has had her life taken away and I am sorry for the loss that this has left for Paul and his family."

An NSPCC spokesperson said: "Macey Hogan, a defenceless toddler, was robbed of a childhood that should have been filled with awe and wonder.

"Instead of bringing this happiness into her daughter's life, Cody-Anne Jackson ended it. It is only right that she has faced the full force of the law."