Mother 'sent partner photo of baby daughter before smothering her to death'

'Just thought you deserved one last picture and memory of her'

Stafford Crown and County Court (Google)

A mother sent a final photograph of her two-year-old daughter to the child's father before deliberately smothering her to death, a court has heard.

Cody-Anne Jackson and Paul Hogan ended their relationship a week before two-year-old Macey was found dead by police.

Ms Jackson sent her former partner a photo of the toddler with the message: "Sorry, just thought you deserved one last picture and memory of her," Stafford Crown Court heard.

Prosecutors claim the 20-year-old suffocated her daughter at her home in Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent, before attempting to kill herself.

Ms Jackson claims her daughter suffocated while sleeping in bed next to her and she attempted to kill herself after discovering her body.

She called the emergency services shortly before 10am on Monday 10 October, claiming her daughter was not breathing.

When police later broke into the house, they found Ms Jackson had sustained superficial knife injuries and Macey was dead.

Officers found four knives at the property and a suicide note.

"I sit here thinking about killing my own daughter and then killing myself," it read, according to The Stoke Sentinel. "I do not want to leave her behind but I can't go on either. There is nothing for me or Macey," reported.

The trial, which is expected to last three weeks, continues.