There is no crime more unfathomable than a parent killing their own baby - but tragically, it happens far too often.

Filicide is the deliberate act of a parent or carer murdering their child. Between 2022 and 2023, 201 kids in the UK died in instances where abuse or neglect was known or suspected - an increase of five percent compared to the year prior.

Some of them were killed in acts of rage, while others were slowly neglected, starved or beaten. In many cases, they died alongside their sadistic parents.

Last year, Finley Boden, Jacob Crouch and Ava Mae Collard were among the babies who didn't make it to their first birthdays, as their futures were destroyed by the very people supposed to protect them. Earlier this month, evil father Michael Davis, 29, was sentenced to life at Leicester Crown Court for killing his four-week-old son Ollie Davis in October 2017 - while his mother, Kayleigh Driver, 31, caused or allowed it all to happen.

His tragic death highlights how much more needs to be done by the Government to protect young children from abuse behind closed doors. Last year alone, more than 400,000 children were classed as 'in need of help and protection' and around 51,000 children were on child protection plans, according to children's charity NSPCC.

More than 50 years ago, seven-year-old Maria Colwell died after being battered by her stepdad William Kepple, who was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to just eight years in prison. Her death in 1973 became a watershed moment for child safety in the UK and authorities famously swore: "It must never happen again".

And yet, thousands of young children and newborn babies have been killed and seriously injured by their parents and stepparents since. According to Government statistics, between 2018 and 2019, 227 kids died at the hands of their protectors - marking the highest year on record in the last five years, followed by 223 between 2020 and 2021.

So how do supposedly-loving parents become killers and why are so many tots still dying?

'Revenge'

In previous filicide cases, babies have been used as 'pawns' by their parent to hurt a spouse. In 2009, Fiona Donnison, then 45, smothered both her children, Harry, three, and Elise, two, and placed their bodies in holdalls in the boot of her car, to lash out at her ex. After murdering the tots, she walked into a police station and confessed. Her trial heard Donnison used the children as "ultimate pawns" to get back at her former partner and she was jailed for a minimum of 32 years.

Kieran O'Hagan, author of Filicide-Suicide, previously told the Mirror that a number of killings by fathers, in particular, are 'revenge-motivated'. He explained: "Fathers are more likely to kill for revenge. A lot of men find living with the consequences of their partner separating is too much, particularly if that partner is in a new relationship and has left them to do this. And even more particularly, if the mother becomes pregnant by a new partner."

This was the case with Keith Young in 2003. The 38-year-old dad drove his four sons - Joshua, seven, Thomas, six, Callum, five, and Daniel, three - to a beauty spot in North Wales and gassed them, calling his estranged wife as he did so. He also killed himself. An inquest heard that the couple had separated months before the horrific tragedy, and the day before Young had heard that his former partner was pregnant by another man.

Timing and mental health

Another pattern that Mr O'Hagan noted in his research was that parents are more likely to kill their children on Tuesdays or Wednesdays as their actions are perhaps less likely to attract suspicion in the middle of the week. He said: "The only reason I can think for this is that it is quieter. They obviously want to do it when it's not expected so they are more likely to get away with it and succeed."

Criminologist and former crime scene investigator Alex Iszatt told the Mirror that motives driving parents to kill their babies can "vary widely - from depression to psychological issues to sudden rage". She explained: "Some mental health issues, such as narcissism, borderline personality disorder or psychosis can distort reality and parents see their child as a threat or an obstacle in the way of their own wellbeing. Once they are 'out of the way' they think life will be better."

Alex said the act of killing may 'fix' an issue short-term - but these parents aren't always thinking of the long-term effects - ultimately, that their child is dead. She continued: "Prolonged abuse of a child can even stem from boredom, which is an antisocial personality trait, where the parent doesn't have empathy, disregards others and has impulse control issues. Lots of small abuses can lead to a 'sudden' death."

Childhood abuse

Childhood trauma and domestic abuse at home can also be a factor in a parent's drive to kill. Alex said: "While it is rare for childhood experiences to directly lead to parents killing, early life can influence mental health and behaviour. If abuse, neglect or trauma was the norm for the parent, then they may behave the same way to their own child, increasing the chances of risk."

The smallest of innocent triggers, like the baby crying or screaming, can tip a violent parent over the edge in rare cases. Alex explained: "Rage killing can result from sudden and severe provocation which is reactive. But more often, it's not a singular reason and those with anger management issues have a history of increased aggression and are quick to irritation and lashing out."

Last year, mother Carla Scott was jailed for 27 years for child cruelty and manslaughter, while her fiance Dirk Howell was sentenced to 32 years for murdering her nine-year-old son, Alfie Steele, in a horrific campaign of violence in February 2021. Prosecutor Michelle Heely KC claimed both defendants thought it was acceptable to hit Alfie with "belts or a slider, like a heavy-duty flip flop, and use other more sinister forms of punishment", like throwing cold water on him at 3am.

Of other possible motives for filicide, Alex added: "There are of course a lot of other factors to be considered - drugs and alcohol can impair judgement, low IQ and a lack of support systems can leave parents feeling overwhelmed and unable to cope."

Gender divide

Alex also explained that previous reports have found that more mums kill their kids than dads. "That's usually put down to postpartum depression, or anxiety with overwhelming feelings of helplessness and that they are not good enough to be a mum," she said. "Mums also tend to spend more time with children, increasing opportunities for harm."

In 2017, mum Rachel Tunstill stabbed her newborn daughter Mia 14 times in the back, neck and chest, while her unsuspecting boyfriend played computer games in the next room. She then put her body in a plastic carrier bag in the kitchen bin and continued to watch TV, with "no emotion or remorse". "What drove her to kill her baby in this way may never be known," judge Mr Justice King said. Tunstill was handed a life sentence in 2019 and died in 2023.

In the UK, a woman is guilty of infanticide if she causes the death of her biological child under the age of 12 months, but the 'balance of her mind was disturbed because she had not fully recovered from the effect of giving birth'. In this case, she may be sentenced for manslaughter rather than murder.

Just last month, mum Gloria Mayele, 34, was convicted of infanticide and cleared of the more serious count of manslaughter for the death of her newborn son Hendjie Kadima. Mayele had been living in temporary accommodation for asylum seekers in South London when she approached staff with the "limp and floppy" two-month-old in her arms in May 2017. Jurors were told that she had "not offered any alternative explanation as to how her son sustained his injuries".

Aside from infanticide, if a parent is found guilty of killing their child, they will be charged with murder and sentenced to life. In line with the 2004 Act, if a child or vulnerable adult dies and a member of their household causes the death, the maximum sentence is life imprisonment, and where serious injury is caused, 14 years imprisonment.

Lockdown horror

In recent years, the pandemic contributed to a rise in killed children at home. Between April 2020 and March 2021, there were 536 serious incident notifications in England - an increase of 19 percent compared to the year prior. Only 56 of these were known to agencies or on a child protection plan, and 42 percent related specifically to child deaths.

School closures and lockdowns meant vulnerable children had less contact with teachers, social care workers and other family members. And devastatingly, children who normally would have never been on the social care radar became vulnerable because of extreme "pressure cooker" challenges, the NSPCC said.

Sharing the role of lockdown in domestic child killings, Alex explained: "Violence thrives behind closed doors and some parents feel that the only thing they can control is their family. Internal conflicts can get conflated, personal issues are allowed to fester and there is no way out." She added that isolation can play a "huge part in exacerbating mental health issues".

Sixteen-month-old Star Hobson was one of the tots horrifically beaten to death by her mother's partner Savannah Brockhill, at her home in Keighley, West Yorkshire, in September 2020. Star had suffered more than 30 separate injuries, including rib fractures and two breaks in her right tibia caused by forced twisting. Brockhill was jailed for life while Star's mum, Frankie Smith, received an eight-year sentence for causing or allowing her death.

Finley Boden also died from abuse by his parents during lockdown. Monsters Shannon Marsden and Stephen Boden were sentenced to life in prison for the "savage and prolonged" murder of their 10-month-old son, who suffered 130 separate injuries before his fatal collapse on Christmas Day 2020. The tot had two burns on his left hand - one "from a hot, flat surface", the other probably "from a cigarette lighter flame". In one message, the couple described wanting "to bounce him off the walls".

Social services had become involved during Marsden's pregnancy due to concerns over cannabis use, domestic violence and the state of the family home. It was concluded that Finley was at "significant risk of harm" if he stayed with his parents, but he returned to their full-time care. A safeguarding review in March of this year found Finley "should have been one of the most protected children in the local authority area" - but he sadly wasn't.

Government 'must act'

NSPCC, the UK's leading children's charity, is urging politicians to do more to stop children dying at the hands of their relatives. Speaking to the Mirror about the significance of Ollie Davis' death, spokeswoman Abigail Gill said: "The people responsible for Ollie's death are the people who should have loved and protected him most of all, but ruthless physical abuse by his father and a lack of protection by his mother cut his life tragically short.

"While dedicated and capable frontline professionals in the care system keep thousands of children safe from harm every single day, the reality is that over 403,000 children are classed as in need of help and protection and around 51,000 children were on child protection plans last year. Professionals face rising caseloads, squeezed budgets and a lack of sufficient training to deal with these cases.

"That's why the Government must invest in transforming children's social care so the system supports families before they reach crisis point and can better protect children like Ollie from harm. The Government, and all major political parties in England, must commit to protecting children from abuse by investing in reforms to children's social care at the earliest opportunity."

If you're worried that a child is at risk or being abused, contact your local children's social care team . You can call NSPCC to discuss your concerns on 0808 800 5000 or ChildLine on 0800 1111. If the child is at immediate risk, call 999.