Mother, 33, who stabbed her 10-year-old daughter to death, given an indefinite hospital order

October 25, 2024, 6:28 PM

A mother who stabbed her 10-year-old daughter to death has been given an indefinite hospital order.

Jaskirat Kaur, who stabbed her daughter 11 times in the chest while she slept, suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and believed she had been targeted by “lasers and technology”, a court heard.

The 33-year-old called 999 on March 4 and told West Midlands Police: “My child is dead”, hours after killing Shay Kang with a Swiss army knife at their home in Robin Close, Rowley Regis.

Kaur showed no emotion in the dock at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Friday as Judge Michael Chambers KC sentenced her to an indefinite hospital order.

It came after she pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility in August.

When police arrived at their home following the 999 call, the mother-of-one said she had had ‘projections going in and out of their house’, with ‘technology and lasers and stuff’, adding: ‘I it was (who killed her) because I didn’t want her to be overtaken by it.

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Those in the public gallery wept as details of the moment Kaur killed her daughter were read out to the court.

She admitted that she had wanted to kill her daughter for the past seven months, telling detectives during an interview: “They can’t adopt her, they can’t take her.” It won’t make any sense, but it does for me.

“I was worried about Shay growing up. I knew there had to be an end date.

‘I would kill her again. I wanted her to die, I don’t regret it.’

Prosecutor Sally Howes KC said concerns were raised in court about Shay’s welfare after she was absent from Brickhouse Primary School, where she was a Year 5 pupil, for nine months between December 2022 and September 2023, leading to the involvement of police and social services. .

Kaur, also known as Jasmine Kang, called police on January 11, 2023, asking to speak to officers on a secure line and asking them to be discreet when they arrived at her home.

During the time between the call and the police arriving at her home, Brickhouse Primary School also called the police requesting a safe check on Shay as she was not present.

When officers arrived at their home, the curtains were drawn and they noticed that Kaur appeared to be suffering from paranoia, although Shay was “content and willing to chat”.

After a second call from her primary school on January 19, 2023, the police attended again and Kaur said she was unwilling to talk to them without a lawyer, but then told them she would not send her daughter to school because a ‘man would take her to record’. her from there”.

Officers suggested Kaur speak to her GP about her paranoia and said Shay appeared happy and in good health and did not think she was in immediate danger.

A third call to police was made by her school on September 20, 2023 and when police arrived at Kaur’s home, they noted that Shay seemed nervous, was difficult to understand and gave monosyllabic answers.

When police showed the pastoral team at the school the body-worn camera footage of the interaction the next day, Ms Howes said they were “shocked” by Shay’s decline since she stopped attending school.

Social workers subsequently became involved when police deemed her a ‘child in need’ and an assessment was carried out on September 27.

The social worker noted that the house was in darkness and Shay said nothing but looked “relatively healthy but pale” despite an “unsteady gait” and her arm movements were “stilted and robotic”, while Kaur was said to be paranoid and anxious . .

In November 2023, a children in need plan was put in place because social services found Kaur was meeting her daughter’s basic needs and was engaging again, but said she was “not particularly coherent and showed examples of paranoia”, while Shay’s speech had taken place. reverted to babbling.

After returning to school in January this year, Shay’s speech improved and she told teachers she had had no one to talk to while she was at home. She said she and her mother spent their time in separate rooms, “doing nothing and going nowhere.” .

The youngster told her teachers that she would spend her time daydreaming or playing on her Nintendo DS and that there was no physical affection between mother and daughter.

Shay’s school paid tribute to her, describing her as a “smart, happy, cheerful child who was loved by everyone”.

Carla Newby, the school’s pastoral officer, said through tears: ‘Shay was always a bright, happy and fun-loving child who was loved by everyone. Her smile could brighten the darkest days.

“This is the most horrific and devastating situation we have ever had to endure.

“We spent time with Shay while she rested at the funeral home. We placed a pink blanket and a teddy bear in her coffin so she could snuggle.

‘It was an honor for both of us to have been chosen to arrange her funeral and give her the 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 the school community for the love shown to her and Shay.

She said: “This is not a short-term mental condition, it is a deep-seated and long-term condition, with no guarantee of future improvement. In short, she will not recover from this condition quickly and there remains a real risk of relapse.

“She has had no visitors other than her legal team, no letters and no one has attempted to contact her in any way.

“This represents the bleak sadness of the future this defendant faces.”

Judge Michael Chambers KC accepted a recommendation that Kaur, a patient at Chadwick Lodge secure hospital in Milton Keynes, should be given an indefinite psychiatric order to protect the public from serious harm.

He said: “This is a truly terrible and tragic loss of life. Every child looks to his or her mother for love and protection and this was a gross violation of that trust.

“The enormity of what you have done is difficult to comprehend. What you have done has affected many lives and the community is rightly shocked.

“Shay had her whole life ahead of her. She looked like a happy and contented girl. That was the image she gave to the world, but unfortunately the reality of life at home was very different.

“The circumstances in which she lived and the context in which she died were the direct result of your serious mental illness. It led to both of you living a socially isolated existence.”