Mother whose four-week-old baby died after she took him out on drinking binge freed from prison after appeal

Marina Tilby was seen throwing baby son above her head while on club dancefloor after downing beer, Guinness, port and gin

Marina Tilby, 26, killed her four-week-old son after taking him on a night out in New Quay, Wales, and drunkenly falling asleep on top of him (Getty)

A mother jailed over the death of her four-week-old baby after she took him on a drinking binge and later rolled on top of him while drunkenly asleep has been freed by the Court of Appeal.

Marina Tilby was so intoxicated it took more than an hour for her to wake up after son Darrian was discovered underneath her and rushed to hospital.

The 26-year-old, of Llwyncelyn in Aberaeron, Ceredigion, had spent the night downing beer, Guinness, port and gin at a pub and club, while carrying the tot around in a car seat. At one point she was seen throwing him into the air as she danced around.

She was jailed for two years and four months at Swansea Crown Court in June after admitting child cruelty through wilful neglect.

But she was freed from prison after judges at the Court of Appeal, in London, reduced her sentence to 16 months and suspended it.

Ruling on Tuesday, Mr Justice Fraser said: “This is undoubtedly a very tragic case.”

The court heard how Tilby had taken Darrian with her during the binge with her sister on 29 March 2017.

The pair drank in the Sea Horse Inn in New Quay before taking a taxi to the club house at nearby Quay West Caravan Park.

CCTV footage showed Tilby there holding him above her head and repeatedly throwing him into the air and catching him as she danced.

Even after the club closed, the sisters carried on drinking at a caravan of three men they had met earlier in the evening.

It was there that Tilby finally put Darrian down for the night on a double bed before falling asleep besides him, the court heard.

But when her sister came in a short while later she found Tilby lying on top of the baby, who was unresponsive and had blood on his nose.

Despite efforts to wake her, the mother-of-one could not be roused for an hour and a quarter while the tot was taken to Bronglais General Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Medical evidence was unable to rule out the possibility Darrian’s death was caused by sudden infant death syndrome before Tilby had rolled onto him.

Sentencing in June, Judge Paul Thomas told Tilby she had shown “deliberate disregard” for her son’s welfare.

He said: “It is a mother’s responsibility, a mother’s duty, and her natural instinct to put the care and safety of her four-week old child above all else. You completely ignored that duty so you could get extremely drunk on a night out.”

But her barrister, Dyfed Thomas, argued on Tuesday that the sentence was too long and could have been suspended.

He said: “This young woman made a terrible, terrible mistake of becoming so drunk she couldn’t respond to her child’s needs.”

Allowing her appeal, Mr Justice Fraser said the original sentence was “manifestly excessive” in light of her genuine remorse and her own suffering.

The court ordered Tilby to undergo supervision by the Probation Service for one year.

Additional reporting by Press Association