Mum handed indefinite hospital order for killing 10-year-old daughter Shay Kang
Shay Kang died after being stabbed at her home in Rowley Regis, Sandwell
Last updated 25th Oct 2024
A woman has been sentenced to an indefinite hospital order for stabbing her 10-year-old daughter to death in Sandwell.
Shay Kang was found with stab wounds to her chest at a house in Robin Close in Rowley Regis on 4 March.
Her mother Jaskirat Kaur, also known as Jasmine Kang, admitted manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility in August.
The court heard she stabbed her daughter 11 times in the chest as she slept, while suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. She believed she was being targeted by "lasers and technology".
When police arrived at their home after the 999 call, the mother-of-one told them she had had "projections coming in and out" of their home, with "tech and lasers and stuff", adding: "It was me (that killed her) because I didn't want her getting took by it."
Prosecutor Sally Howes KC told the court concerns had been raised about Shay's welfare after she failed to attend Brickhouse Primary School, where she was a Year 5 pupil, for nine months between December 2022 and September 2023 which led to the involvement of police and social services.
Carla Newby, Brickhouse Primary School's pastoral officer, read out an emotional tribute to Shay on behalf of her and her husband, the school's head teacher Paul Newby.
Through tears, Mrs Newby said: "Shay was always a bright, happy, fun-loving child who was well-liked by all. Her smile could brighten up the dimmest of days.
"This is the most horrific and devastating situation we have ever had to manage.
"We spent time with Shay as she rested in the funeral home. We placed a pink blanket and a teddy bear in her coffin for her to snuggle.
"It was an honour for us both to have been chosen to arrange her funeral and give her a send-off she deserved. May Shay find some peace now."
Katherine Goddard KC, defending, said Kaur would be "forever grateful" to Mr and Mrs Newby and school community for the love shown to her and Shay.
She said: "This is not a short-term mental condition, it is deep-seated and long-term, with no guarantee of future improvement. In short, she will not recover from this condition quickly and there will remain a real risk of relapse.
"She has received no visits except for her legal team and received no letters and no-one has tried to contact her in any way.
"This represents the bleak sadness of the future that this defendant faces."
Judge Michael Chambers KC accepted a recommendation that Kaur, a patient at the secure hospital Chadwick Lodge in Milton Keynes, should be given an indefinite hospital order to protect the public from serious harm.
He said: "This is a truly dreadful and tragic loss of life. Every child looks to his or her mother for love and protection and this was a gross breach of that trust.
"The enormity of what you have done is difficult to comprehend. What you have done has impacted many lives and the community rightly have been shocked.
"Shay had her whole life before her. She appeared as a happy and contented girl. That was the appearance she gave to the world, but sadly the reality of life at home was very different.
"The conditions in which she lived and the context in which she died were the direct result of your severe mental illness. It led to you both living a socially isolated existence."