Courtney Gartshore, 28, was sentenced to six years in prison on Friday for the culpable homicide of her three-month-old daughter, Dahlia-Rose Gartshore, whom she fatally injured with a hairdryer's hot air.
The incident took place on September 30, 2023, at a King Street address in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire. Gartshore had been drinking while in sole charge of the infant and subjected her to significant and sustained heat on the head and body. Dahlia-Rose suffered severe burns to 18% of her body surface area and was pronounced dead at the scene. A burns specialist testified that the heat injuries themselves did not directly cause the baby's death.
Gartshore was convicted following a trial at the High Court in Aberdeen in July. Sentencing judge Simon Collins KC described the case as "uniquely disturbing and distressing" at the High Court in Edinburgh.