Update: Now living in Exeter

August 2015

Mother who repeatedly smothered her baby sons to the point of unconsciousness for her own ‘perverse satisfaction’ is jailed for six years 

A mother who repeatedly smothered her infant sons to the point of unconsciousness for a ‘perverse satisfaction’ has been jailed for six years.

Jessica Jones, 22, suffocated the two youngsters, now aged two and three, a total of 10 times before dialling 999 and claiming they had suffered fits.

Jones, of Whitleigh, Plymouth, recorded one of her children recovering after an assault on her mobile phone.

Paramedics found the children blue and lifeless following a number of the attacks, which spanned nearly two years.

Truro Crown Court, in Cornwall, was told that the two boys could have died on any one of the occasions.

Doctors were baffled in diagnosing the children’s ‘fits’, as they always recovered quickly after arriving at the hospital.

Jones even allowed doctors to operate on her youngest son under general anaesthetic, to fit a heart monitor inside the child’s chest.

She was finally caught by CCTV at Derriford Hospital, in Plymouth, which recorded her attacking one of the children again after they had been admitted.

The court was told that Jones got a ‘perverse satisfaction’ by watching her sons after she had smothered them.

Judge Simon Carr, when handing her a sentence of six years, said: ‘Given the young age of your sons, it is clear that on each occasion they could have died.’

Jones pleaded guilty to two counts of child cruelty.

The first related to three smothering incidents against her first son, when he was between the ages of four and seven months old, in 2012.

The second covered seven incidents over a seven-month period against her second son, from when he was nine months old to the hospital attack in May 2014.

Jones’ now ex-husband was not in the house during any of the episodes.

Judge Carr added that, while both boys appear to be doing well now, they may develop health problems as they grow up.

He said: ‘We have not got a full insight into what you did and the reasons for it.’

The police added in a statement: ‘The sentence and conviction have enabled protective measures put in place during the investigation to remain, and the children to continue to thrive in a safe environment.

‘If it was not for the combined efforts of all agencies, we truly believe some serious harm would have come to the children or future children in her care.’