Mother who murdered her newborn baby with scissors dies in prison

A mother who stabbed her own newborn baby daughter to death with scissors has died in custody, Lancashire Police has confirmed.

Rachel Tunstill, a mental healthcare boss, killed Mia Kelly in the bathroom of her home in Burnley in 2017. She then placed her body in a plastic bag before dumping it into her kitchen bin.

A Lancashire Police spokesperson has now confirmed that the 32-year-old died on Tuesday, August 1. Tunstill was serving prison time at HMP Syal in Cheshire when she lost her life.

The force said in a statement: "HMP Styal prisoner Rachel Tunstill died in custody on 1 August 2023. As with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will investigate."

Tunstil was originally found guilty of murder and was jailed for 20 years following a trial at Preston Crown Court in 2017. But the conviction was quashed as the Court of Appeal ruled the jury should have been offered a verdict of infanticide.

Following a retrial at Liverpool Crown Cour in 2019, a jury found Tunstill guilty of murder following a retrial in 2019. She was sentenced to life imprisonment and told to serve a minimum of 17 years.