Lesley Dunford jailed for life after confessing to smothering 7-month-old son 13 years ago

A mother who was already serving a seven-year jail term for killing her three-year-old daughter, has been jailed for life for murdering her seven-month old son. Lesley Dunford confessed to the killing of Harley Cameron Dunford in 2003, after he was found dead in his cot at her East Sussex home, the Old Bailey heard.

At the time no inquest was held into the baby's death as he was believed to have died from natural causes after a Sussex Police investigation. A year later, in 2004, the 37-year-old smothered her daughter Lucy in her bed.

Despite claiming she found her not breathing, three post-mortem examinations confirmed she died from asphyxia caused by the forced blockage of her airways. In June 2012, she was found guilty of her manslaughter and subsequently jailed for seven years.

Then in June 2014, the former Exeter-resident confessed to Harley's murder in a letter penned in prison. She later changed her plea from guilty, to not guilty, then back to guilty saying that she had forced her sons face into a mattress to kill him.

Dunford was subsequently jailed for life at the Old Bailey, with a minimum term of 13 years, for the murder of Harley in Camber, on 27 August 2003. In her confession letter she said she told officers that she had been having "flashbacks and nightmares" about her crime.

She wrote, describing details of his death: "Something clicked in my head and I went back into the room walked over to his cot and pushed his face into the mattress until he stopped breathing. And then I put his head to the side and noticed there was blood and foam coming out of his nose. That's when I knew I had hurt him and I don't know why I had done it."

Jailing Dunford, Mr Justice Baker said according to the BBC: "The reality is, had you not confessed to killing Harley whilst in custody, it is highly likely there would not have been a police investigation into his death and you would not have faced prosecution for murder."

Despite the two horrendous killings, Dunford's husband Wayne said he has forgiven her. According to lawyers at an earlier hearing, Dunford has not been diagnosed with a mental illness.