Six years into her 17-year-long sentence for stabbing her baby with a pair of scissors, Rachel Tunstill dies in prison.
Back in 2017, she stabbed her baby girl, Mia Kelly, more than 15 times in the bathroom of their Burnley home and threw her lifeless body in a bin.
Tunstill was initially convicted of murder and handed a life sentence with minimum term of 20 years, but a re-trial proved the jury in the case should have been offered a verdict of infanticide to consider. During the re-trial she was once again convicted of murder and put behind bars for a minimum of 17 years.
“HMP Styal prisoner Rachel Tunstill died in custody on 1 August 2023. As with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will investigate,” a spokesperson from the Prison Service confirmed the news of her passing.
At the time she gave birth, her boyfriend was playing video games in the next room. She then told him she had a miscarriage and asked for the scissors after which she remorselessly stabbed the baby to death.
At the time of sentencing, the judge, Mr Justice King, said: “This must have been a sustained and frenzied attack on a victim who because of her age was particularly vulnerable. Her duty to her newborn baby was to cradle and comfort her – not to stab her to death.
“There was here in my judgement concealment of the body, albeit short-lived and in addition there was undoubtedly the indignity which was wrought upon the body by disposing of it in the way she did.”
Credit: Liverpool Echo
Tunstill was a university master’s graduate in forensic psychology.
“She showed no emotion or remorse for stabbing her baby to death,” said Mr Justice King.
A 4-year-old girl disappeared from the yard of her house one morning
One morning, a 4-year-old girl vanished from her home’s yard. For the past 48 hours, the family and neighbors have been searching the adjacent woodland for her. When the police arrived on the scene, they began questioning everyone about whether they had seen the girl, but none had.
The parents’ desperation was growing, and they were terrified that something horrible might happen to their young daughter.
Over a five-mile radius, the police visited every home in an effort to find the missing girl, searching day and night without stopping.
The girl had a drastically decreasing chance of survival with every hour that went by.
The neighbors discovered a stray pit bull hiding next to a tree in the midst of the forest on the third day of the search. The dog growled at their attempts to approach, preventing anyone from getting close to him.
Upon closer inspection, they saw that the dog was attempting to defend the girl who had gone missing. YES, THEY FOUND HER!
The dog was obviously squatting next to the girl in the woods, trying to protect and warm her, however it is unknown how much time they spent together.
The girl was extremely hungry and dehydrated, but she was unharmed. After being brought to the hospital, her condition was improved by the medical staff.
The girl’s family later adopted the puppy, whom they gave the name Joy.
Because the pit bull was able to keep the girl safe, he was hailed as a hero.
Nobody ever imagined that a dog could have such keen instincts as to sense the child’s danger and instinctively know how to protect it.
Joy once again shown to the girl’s parents how much wiser and more loving dogs may be than people realize. For this, the parents are grateful.
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