Mother jailed for bleach killing

A mother was jailed for seven years yesterday for killing her autistic 12-year-old with bleach – after social services allegedly failed to address her mental health problems.

Satpal Kaur Singh, 45, struggled to cope with her son Ajit and feared he would be taken away, the Old Bailey heard. Her "obvious" mental health problems were recognised yet she was "allowed to resist help", the court heard.

Singh, from Barking, east London, made her son drink a cup of Domestos in February last year. She pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility at an earlier hearing. A case review is expected to be completed in the next few weeks.