Sandra Helen Riley (born 1952) is a British serial child killer who is notable for having killed all three of her sons between 1981 and 1985. Having admitted killing two of her newly born babies at a trial in 1983, she was allowed to go free with only a two-year

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

order, only to go on to

drown Drowning is a type of suffocation induced by the submersion of the mouth and nose in a liquid. Most instances of fatal drowning occur alone or in situations where others present are either unaware of the victim's situation or unable to offer as ...

her eight-year-old son Andrew in the bath, with the boy's final words being "don't kill me mum". Previously making news headlines in 1983 for admitting killing two of her children, she returned to the front pages in 1986 after the third death. There was a considerable outcry at the failure of authorities and

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administe ...

to prevent the deaths, particularly of Andrew, who had been on an "at-risk" register and had previously had his skull fractured while under his mother's care in December 1976, and the case was discussed in

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. Sandra Riley pleaded guilty to

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...

at her second trial in January 1986 and was ordered to be detained indefinitely at

Ashworth Hospital Ashworth Hospital is a high-security psychiatric hospital in Maghull, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Liverpool. It is a part of Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, catering to patients with psychiatric health needs that require treatment in c ...

under the

Mental Health Act Mental Health Act is a stock short title used for legislation relating to mental health law. List Canada * Mental Health Act (Ontario) (Ontario) India *The Mental Health Care Act, 2017 Ireland *The Mental Health Act 2001 New Zealand *The Men ...

as a diagnosed psychopath.

Background

Sandra Riley had a difficult upbringing, being abandoned by her own parents at two months' old, and she was long known to

Macclesfield Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east ...

, her home town. She had a baby girl in 1973 who was given up for

adoption Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...

. Her second child, a boy, was born in 1974 but mysteriously died shortly afterwards – at the time this was recorded as a

cot death Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the sudden unexplained death of a child of less than one year of age. Diagnosis requires that the death remain unexplained even after a thorough autopsy and detailed death scene investigation. SIDS usual ...

. In December 1976 she had another child, Andrew, with her new husband Stanley. Just a few days later the child was hospitalised with a

skull fracture A skull fracture is a break in one or more of the eight bones that form the cranial portion of the human skull, skull, usually occurring as a result of blunt force trauma. If the force of the impact is excessive, the bone may fracture at or near ...

but a police investigation concluded that it seemed accidental, although the child was put on an "at-risk" register. Andrew was taken off the at-risk register in 1979. Next, in January 1981, Riley gave birth to a third boy Christopher, but within two months he was found dead in his cot. An

open verdict The open verdict is an option open to a coroner's jury at an inquest in the legal system of England and Wales. The verdict means the jury confirms the death is suspicious, but is unable to reach any other verdicts open to them. Mortality studies c ...

was recorded and

was cited as the cause, but then in March 1983, Riley's newly born fourth son was also found dead less than two months after his birth. On this occasion she quickly admitted killing the child, revealing that she had held a pillow to the boy's face and smothered him to death. Under police questioning she then revealed that she had killed Christopher in the same circumstances. She was subsequently convicted of two counts of

infanticide Infanticide (or infant homicide) is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose is the prevention of reso ...

, but because experts (wrongly) decided that she was not a threat to her only remaining son Andrew or any other child she was only given a two-year

order. It was incorrectly believed that there was no psychiatric indications that Riley was a danger. Her husband allowed her to move back in with their son, which he later said was a mistake that would "haunt" him. In April 1985, while still on probation, Riley was left alone at home with her son Andrew and she drowned him in the bath. After he was taken to the bath the boy asked "is it my turn to die, mummy?" and as she forced his head under the water, the child begged "please don't kill me mum". Riley was arrested and pleaded guilty at trial to

with

diminished responsibility In criminal law, diminished responsibility (or diminished capacity) is a potential defense by excuse by which defendants argue that although they broke the law, they should not be held fully criminally liable for doing so, as their mental f ...

, and also pleaded guilty to an

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

charge, having 12 months earlier set fire to the family house while her son played with a friend inside. When admitting to police that she killed him, she said "it should have been Bryan" – referring to her 38-year-old husband. She was committed to Moss Side Mental Hospital indefinitely, with four doctors agreeing she was a

psychopath Psychopathy, sometimes considered synonymous with sociopathy, is characterized by persistent Anti-social behaviour, antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and Boldness, bold, Disinhibition, disinhibited, and Egotism, egotistical B ...

Reaction

Of Riley's five children, her four sons all died, and the only surviving child was the baby daughter given up for adoption soon after her birth. There was considerable suspicion that the baby whose death was put down to cot death was also a victim of Riley. Her husband declared that he was disowning her, saying that "if they brought back hanging now I would willingly give a year's wages to be the one to pull the lever" and "they

he authorities He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

should have picked up what was wrong instead of diagnosing

post-natal depression Postpartum depression (PPD), also called postnatal depression, is a type of mood disorder associated with childbirth, which can affect both sexes. Symptoms may include extreme sadness, low energy, anxiety, crying episodes, irritability, and chan ...

". There was considerable outrage at the events and the fact that three children had been managed to be killed by Riley despite social service intervention. Subsequently, in February 1986, the case was discussed in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Sandra 1983 murders in the United Kingdom 1981 murders in the United Kingdom 1985 murders in the United Kingdom English female criminals British female serial killers Infanticide Incidents of violence against boys Violence against children in England People from Macclesfield Living people 1952 births

Background

Reaction

See also

References