Monday, February 2, 2026
A woman who admitted causing the death of her newborn baby son has been spared jail.
Police were called to Sinead Tippett’s home address on Middleton Road in Morecambe on February 1st, 2022, after the teenager told her school she had given birth the previous night.
Despite suspicions that she was pregnant and rumours circulating to this effect Tippett, who was 15 at the time, had continued to deny the pregnancy to school staff, friends, her boyfriend – the father of the child - and her parents.
When interviewed by police Tippett said she had given birth to the baby – who was named Cameron – in her bedroom on the evening of January 31st. She claimed the baby was not breathing so she cuddled him, wrapped him in towels and put him in a shoebox in her wardrobe before going to school the next morning.
But a postmortem examination showed the baby boy had been born alive and had maintained a separate existence from his mother. The examination gave the cause of death as suffocation.
Following a complex and challenging investigation the Crown Prosecution Service authorised a charge of infanticide – causing the death of a child under 12 months by a wilful act at a time when the balance of her mind was disturbed by reason of not having fully recovered from the effect of giving birth to the child.
Tippett, now 19, of Preston admitted the charge last October in a hearing at Preston Crown Court.
She appeared at the same court today (Monday, February 2nd) where she was sentenced to a three-year community order and a 20 day rehabilitation order.
Det Insp Tris Hardwick, of our Force Major Investigation Team, said: “This is an absolutely tragic case involving the death of a newborn baby boy and the impact on all those involved has been immeasurable - I cannot begin to imagine the pain they have suffered.
“While no sentence can ever compensate for the loss of a loved one, I hope at least that the conclusion of these proceedings gives them some of the answers they have been seeking and the opportunity to move forward with their lives as best they can.”
Family statements
Jenna (step mum)
I am speaking from my heart and what needs to remain at the forefront of everyone’s mind is that Sinead’s actions throughout the pregnancy, and on that fateful day 1st February 2021, have had an unforgivable impact on so many people.
Cameron was an innocent baby who did not get to experience love or be cared for during his very short life, which is heart-breaking.
Sinead had so many opportunities to change the sequence of events which unfolded, but what I want people to remember is that she chose not to, she lied to me and others, and her decisions and actions led to Cameron’s death.
I just feel so sad whenever his name is mentioned. The thing that gets me the most is that he never knew love. He was just a baby, and he never got to have a first of anything. Sinead took that away from him. He would be nearly four now, he would have started school in September, but he had that and so many opportunities took away from him. He was my grandson, and I don’t even know what he looked like, but I can tell you all that he would have been loved, and everyone involved would have made it work.
He will always be remembered, not only on key dates like Christmas or his Birthday, but in day-to-day life, and whilst he was never given any dignity during his short life or he circumstances of his death, he will be shown this now.
Nicole Davey (paternal grandmother)
Everything has changed. My life before Cameron and my heartbreaking life after Cameron. I have to live without Cameron today, tomorrow and for the rest of my life. It doesn’t seem real, no matter how many times I go over it in my head. If God himself came to me and told me why, I still wouldn’t be able to accept it. People keep telling me I’m being strong. I don’t feel strong, I feel broken and scared. I feel like I lose Cameron every single day. As soon as I wake up it hits me all over again, and it has for four years.
I love Cameron so much, but I live in a world where the love for him has nowhere to go. And then comes the grief – the grief I have had to learn to live side by side with – something that lives within me. I’ve had to learn to deal with a feeling that makes me feel guilty for any happiness I feel at all.
I didn’t just lose Cameron that day – I lost a part of my 14-year-old son. My son who should have been out living like a teenager, enjoying his life, but instead was stopped in his tracks. He changed. A once outgoing, life and soul, funny, bubbly boy turned into a shell. A young boy so traumatised by what has happened at such a young age. His childhood stopped at the age of 14.
I also know that he still fears about and has concerns about the untruths that are out in the public domain, about Cameron's death, which he was not involved in.
Finally, I would like to focus on our beautiful Cameron. Cameron is someone I love with every fibre of my body, yet I don’t know who he is or who he would have become. There is nothing I can tell you about my grandson, not even the colour of his eyes. I would love to tell you what his favourite toy is, his favourite story or book, what his voice sounds like or how he sounds when he cries or laughs. We should have been celebrating his fourth birthday, and he should have blown out his candles on his birthday cake. Instead, we’re learning to breathe in a world where he doesn’t exist.
Dad
With the loss of my son and everything in-between, it has impacted me in a huge way.
Firstly, it has affected my mental health the most, which also comes in to my day to day life. I don't sleep due to bad dreams and memories of seeing Cameron at the hospital.
From losing Cameron, it affected my motivation to do anything. For months and months I stayed in my room day in day out, not wanting to socialise. I stopped going to school for 6 months and when I went back I was not the same person.
Losing Cameron has not only had a negative impact on myself, but my family as well. My mum, dad, sister, nana and younger cousins are significantly impacted, and we all carry the loss of Cameron daily. The loss of Cameron doesn't get easier and there is still a huge hole in my heart that will never be filled.