August 2012

Dawn Makin detained for daughter Chloe Burke’s manslaughter

A former nurse who stabbed her four-year-old daughter to death has been detained for 12 years.

Preston Crown Court heard Dawn Makin, 35, suffered mental problems after she was sacked for passing patient data to a personal injury claims firm.

Makin, who was initially charged with murder, admitted the manslaughter of her daughter Chloe Burke on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

The child was found dead at home at Lea Mount Drive, Bury, in February 2011.

A few days before Chloe’s death, Makin told her childminder and parents that both were ill with a stomach bug.

She even posted a message on Facebook that the pair were tucked up in bed together.

But after failing to hear from her for more than a day Makin’s parents became frantic with worry and broke into her house with a neighbour where they made the horrific discovery in Makin’s bedroom.

Chloe had been stabbed several times in the neck and chest and had been wrapped in pyjamas and a dressing gown. She lay on the bed surrounded by cuddly toys.

Makin lay next to her unconscious.

Paramedics took the mum to hospital but Chloe was pronounced dead at the scene.

Makin survived but has been left permanently disabled by her injuries.

A suicide note left at the top of the stairs read: “I’m sorry I have taken you away from you all but I couldn’t leave her here with no money, that would be too cruel.”

The court heard evidence that Makin had made attempts to tidy up the scene after killing her daughter.

Blood-soaked clothes and bedsheets were found in a black bin bag in the room.

Peter Wright, prosecuting, said Chloe must have survived for a few hours before she died from her injuries.

He said the stab wounds caused her lungs to collapse which led to infection and pneumonia.

The court also heard how the youngster had tried to defend herself from her mum’s attack

Preston Crown Court was told Makin was suffering an “abnormality of mental function” when she stabbed Chloe and then drank anti-freeze.

‘No rational judgement’

The court heard she drank the anti-freeze as part of an unsuccessful suicide attempt which left her disabled and using a wheelchair.

Peter Wright QC, for the prosecution, said: “She was no longer able to form a rational judgement and believed the only way was to kill herself and her daughter.”

The nurse practitioner lost her job at Moorgate Walk-in Centre in Bury after passing patient details to her boyfriend, Martin Campbell, who worked for a personal injury claims firm, the QC said.

She was suspended after a patient complained in May 2010.

Makin was sacked three months later.

The couple split in January 2011, causing her further “considerable distress”, the court heard. On Valentine’s Day she learned she was to be prosecuted for data protection offences.

Two days later Makin was found with her wrists cut and a bottle of anti-freeze on the floor.

In one of several suicide notes she wrote: “I had no choice, my life was wrecked.”

She also wrote on her daughter’s picture: “I’m so sorry I’ve taken her away from you all but I couldn’t leave her with no money, that would be too cruel. Sorry.”

Nick Johnson QC, defending, said a psychiatric examination of Makin revealed she believed her daughter was an “emotional extension” of herself.

Makin was no longer a cause for concern after receiving psychiatric treatment but “has to live with the fact that she killed her child, something she can’t remember”.

Judge Anthony Russell QC, the Recorder of Preston, told Makin she must serve six years before being considered eligible for parole.

He said: “Although you were able to understand the nature of your conduct, you were no longer able to form a rational judgment and were of the belief that there was no alternative but to kill yourself and your daughter.”