Alice Mackey jailed four years for manslaughter of 2-year-old Annabel

A mother has been jailed for four years after pleading guilty to the manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility of her two year old daughter, who was found in a village pond in Hampshire in September 2023. Alice Mackey, 42, of Oakhanger, appeared at Winchester Crown Court on Monday where the court heard that her daughter, Annabel, was discovered unresponsive at Kingsley Pond on September 10 and died in hospital the following day.

Prosecutors told the court that Annabel went missing from the family home on Forge Road and was located a short time later at the pond about 300 metres from the house. Emergency services took the child to hospital in a critical condition where she died on September 11. At an earlier hearing Mackey pleaded guilty to manslaughter; she had entered a not guilty plea to murder, but the prosecution accepted that plea would not be pursued after psychiatric reports indicated she was suffering from diminished responsibility at the time of the incident.

The court heard evidence from the prosecution that Mackey took Annabel to the pond and held her under the water until she stopped struggling, causing her death. Prosecutors said Mackey then telephoned...