JAILED FOR LIFE: Mum confesses to murdering son...while in prison for killing her daughter

, Apr 16, 2016

PA/SWNS

Lesley Dunford has been jailed for life for murdering her baby son

Murderess Lesley Dunford smothered seven-month-old Harley in his cot before concocting a web of lies to hide her crime.
When her three-year-old daughter Lucy died six months later in chillingly similar circumstances suspicions began to mount, and she was eventually jailed for manslaughter for that killing.
But investigators failed to revisit the death of tiny Harley, which continued to be attributed to a sudden illness.
It was only when the 37-year-old mother was overcome with guilt more than 10 years later whilst serving that prison sentence that she confessed to prison guards she had murdered him, sparking a police investigation. 

She was jailed for life when she appeared before a judge at the Old Bailey today, having admitted murdering Harley at the three-bedroom home she shared with her husband Wayne in Camber, near Hastings, East Sussex.
The 58-year-old husband was out of the house at work when both the killings took place. In an emotional statement after the sentencing he said his wife had “lied” to him about what happened, adding he was “truly sorry” for what the family had been through.
Sending her down for a minimum of 13 years Judge Jeremy Baker said: "The reality is, had you not confessed to killing Harley whilst in custody, it is highly likely there would not have been a police investigation into his death and you would not have faced prosecution for murder."

SWNS

Dunford confessed to the murder whilst in jail for killing her daughter

The court heard how Dunford cooked up a cocktail of lies to keep her crime under wraps, even courting the sympathy of the local vicar over her apparently tragic bad luck.
She claimed she had found her baby son in his cot not breathing, keeping up the facade for more than 10 years before finally telling the truth.
As a result his death, in August 2003, was put down to a bout of staphylococcal pneumonia and no action was taken.
When Lucy died in "very similar circumstances" six months later, the defendant turned to her local vicar and said: "It's happened again, it's happened again."
It was not until a coroner expressed his concern at Lucy's 2009 inquest that the decision not to prosecute over her death was reconsidered.
The medical evidence was reviewed and Lucy was found to have died from asphyxiation, the court heard.

SWNS/ENTERPRISE

The mother of two also killed her daughter Lucy

Lesley lied to me about what had happened with the children

Wayne Dunford

In June 2012, Dunford was jailed for seven years after being found guilty of Lucy's manslaughter at Lewes Crown Court.
It was while she was serving her sentence that she admitted involvement in both deaths to prison staff, saying she was "riddled with guilt".
She told officers that she had been having "flashbacks and nightmares" about what she had done.
In a written confession, she stated: "I remember the day very clearly, the time I put Harley back to bed at 9am, after I had given him his breakfast. I was settling him down in his cot. I put him on his tummy and put his dummy in.
"But then something clicked in my head and I went back into the room walked over to his cot and pushed his face into the mattress until he stopped breathing.
"And then I put his head to the side and noticed there was blood and foam coming out of his nose. That's when I knew I had hurt him and I don't know why I had done it.
"Even though we had a death certificate I know I contributed to his death because I relive it every day."

GETTY

She was jailed for life at the Old Bailey

Medical experts who later reviewed the examination of Harley's body rejected the original finding that he had died from pneumonia, saying he too had been asphyxiated.
In mitigation, Alan Kent QC said the case was "quite extraordinary" and his client wished to convey her "sincere regrets and apologies".
He told the court that Dunford's husband, who is in the process of divorcing her, had forgiven her and "wishes her well in the future".
Mr Dunford, who was in court, had suggested that his "gullible" wife should be in a hospital and not a prison where she might be "bullied and taken advantage of".
In a statement after the hearing he said: "This has been a very difficult time for myself. Lesley lied to me about what had happened with the children.
"She was very good at this and I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to family and friends for this deceit that lasted for a decade. I am truly sorry."
Senior Crown prosecutor Libby Clark said: "Despite being convicted in 2012 of the manslaughter of her eldest daughter, Dunford still kept her silence over Harley's death. She showed no remorse for over a decade by maintaining her claims that she had found him in his cot and that he was not breathing, when the truth was that she had murdered him."
Det Chief Insp Wendy Burton, of the Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team, added: "This has been a tragic case in which two children have lost their lives and their family has been stricken by terrible heartache.
"Justice has now been done and our sympathies are with little Harley and Lucy."