A woman who was cleared by a jury of killing her infant daughter took her own life after being taunted as a “baby killer” by neighbours.
Danah Vince’s 16-week-old daughter, Paris, suffered some of the most severe eye injuries that specialists had seen after her head was banged or shaken. William Stephens, 27, Vince’s partner and Paris’s father, was convicted of manslaughter but Vince, 20, was acquitted.
Vince was then hounded by her neighbours in Bristol over the next 12 months, an inquest was told. She was abused in the street and received threatening messages on social media and in the post. After a confrontation with a gang of young women in a pub she was heard to say: “I’ll end it all, I can’t do it any more.” Hours later she was found dead.
Maria Voisin, senior coroner for Avon, reached a conclusion of suicide and said Vince was “very upset” following the incident in the pub. Voisin said: “On the evening before her death, Danah was involved in an altercation while out with friends and she was very upset. She was on medication for depression. Danah Vince deliberately took drugs and alcohol to cause her own death. The appropriate conclusion should be suicide.”
Vince’s father, David John Vince, told the inquest that his daughter had been “up and down” since Paris’ death. “She was depressed and found it difficult coming to terms with what happened to Paris,” Mr Vince said. “Females in the area would shout ‘baby killer’ to her when she was in the street or walking to the shops.
“One night after finishing work, females were waiting for her and tried to force her into a car. She told me she received letters and threatening Facebook messages from people.
“She was strong and tried to stand up for herself, telling people she hadn’t done anything wrong but this did get her down. She found it hard to move on with her life because of the abuse. Every time I spoke to her she would tell me that someone had shouted abuse or threatened her.”
In November last year – a year after her acquittal – Vince was abused in a pub at a birthday celebration.
Her cousin Jaylea Monks said: “These women were shouting at Danah, calling her a baby killer. Danah was saying: ‘I didn’t kill her, I didn’t kill my baby.’ She was also saying things like: ‘I can’t take any more of this.’”
When Vince’s father could not contact her the next day he went to her flat and found her dead.
Vince’s GP, Dr Stephanie Chadwick, said she was “much lower” than usual during an appointment five days before her death. Chadwick referred Vince to a mental health team but she died before speaking to a member of the service.
William Stephens was jailed for six years for killing Paris. Sentencing judge Mr Justice Teare said Stephens lost his temper or control but accepted that he had serious learning difficulties that may have inhibited his understanding of what he was doing.
The prosecution alleged one or other of the couple had caused the injuries and the other was culpable in so far as they caused or allowed the death of the child. Vince was cleared by the jury.
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