The Story of Macey Hogan

*** Warning- Post contains information that some readers may find distressing***

Look at the title at the top of this blog post, because it wasn’t the original title. I changed it a few times and had a few variations but my original title read:

Mother jailed for 16 years for murder of 2 year old daughter.

Truthfully, my original headline may well have got more “clicks” or more “views” or more interaction but it definitely misses the point of this story and the reason I feel I have to write about it.

That headline, or variations of it will have been in our papers, and on our news websites over the past couple of days. The headline is factually correct, the information requires communication, but the STORY should be about Macey Hogan.

And today that is exactly what I want to do. I want to talk about the heartbreaking story of Macey Hogan and what this story should be about.

But first the facts:

Cody-Anne Jackson has been sentenced to a minimum of 16 years in prison after suffocating her two year old daughter in what Judge Michael Chambers QC called a “wicked and appalling act.”

What makes this case even more disturbing is the reason for such a callous act. Cody-Anne Jackson had reacted angrily to a break up with Macey’s father and sent a photo of his daughter to him before killing her and trying to take her own life.

There is more to that story and if you want it a simple google search will find it but setting aside the horrific and wicked actions, the sentencing, the nature of our justice system meaning that if someone changes their plea mid trial they still get a reduced sentence. What really matters here, and what we must not lose sight off is that Macey Hogan didn’t just lose her life, she had it taken from her. She lost her childhood, she lost her future, and it was taken from her by the one person who was responsible for protecting, caring and loving her.

A statement from the NSPCC said:
“Macey Hogan, a defenceless toddler, was robbed of a childhood that should have been filled with awe and wonder. Instead of bringing this happiness into her daughter’s life, Cody-Anne Jackson ended it. It is only right that she has faced the full force of the law.”

At the heart of this sad story, is a story of selfishness. A desire to end a child’s life rather than let the child have a relationship with the other parent (and I must stress because of the nature of this blog it doesn’t matter whether that was the Father or the Mother. Both are vitally important in a child’s life.)

May every single one of us take this opportunity to remember young Macey Hogan. May we hold our children a little closer tonight. And may we constantly seek to find and destroy those feelings of selfishness we all can have. Our children, especially our little children, rely on us for love, correction, encouragement and protection!

Sadly today, we see what happens when this goes horribly wrong.

Finally, everywhere you look about this story you’ll see the picture of Macey and her mother that staffordshire police released. In her memory, and hopefully you can see why, the featured picture in this story has had Cody-Anne Jackson taken out.