Sandra Riley had a troubled early life, she was abandoned by her parents at two months old and was a known child to social services, Macclesfield. In 1973 she gave birth to a girl who she decided to give up for adoption, the next year she gave birth again this time to a boy who mysteriously died shortly after birth which was recorded as a cot death/SIDS.

December 1976 saw the birth of another boy Andrew, with her recent husband Stanley a few days later they rushed him to hospital and he was found to have a skull fracture, authorities thought it was accidental but to be sure he was placed on the at risk register to keep an eye on things for a while.

Three years later Andrew was taken off of the at risk register and a few months later in January 1981 she gave birth again to Christopher another son. Again within a few months he was found dead in his cot for Cot death/SIDS. In march 1983 Riley’s 3rd son born just a couple of months before was also found dead, this time though Riley admitted to smothering him with a pillow, when she was being questioned about this she admitted that she also had killed Christopher and she was then convicted to two counts of infanticide but experts concluded that she was not a risk to her other son Andrew on any subsequent children so she was only given a two year probation order.

Her husband allowed her to move back in with them as it was claimed that there were no psychiatric indications that she would harm Andrew, her husband said that this decision haunts him still. April 1985, while still on probation, Riley was left alone to care for Andrew, she took him into the bathroom where he asked ‘is it my turn to die, mummy’ and as she forced his head under the water he begged ‘please don’t kill me mum’ She was arrested and plead guilty to this murder and an arson charge that occurred a year earlier where she set fire to the family home while her son and a friend were playing. She was committed to Moss Side mental hospital indefinitely.