Courtney Gartshore Sentenced to Six Years Over Death of Baby Daughter Dahlia-Rose

Courtney Gartshore, 28, has been jailed for six years after a jury found her guilty of culpable homicide in the death of her three-month-old daughter, Dahlia-Rose, who died after being exposed to prolonged heat from a hairdryer in 2023.

The sentence was handed down at the High Court in Edinburgh by Judge Simon Collins KC, following Gartshore’s conviction on 16 July 2026. The court heard that the offence took place at her home in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, on 30 September 2023.

According to the judge’s sentencing remarks, Gartshore had gone out socialising with friends and neighbours the night before her daughter’s death and had consumed a significant amount of alcohol, not returning home until around four in the morning.

At some point between roughly 4am and 9am, while alone in charge of Dahlia-Rose, she subjected the baby to sustained heat from a hairdryer, which was later found plugged in beside her bed. Evidence presented at trial indicated the hairdryer had been running for at least 20 minutes and potentially as long as an hour.

Dahlia-Rose suffered burns to around 18 percent of her body, including her head, face, neck, upper body and right arm.

Judge Collins described the injuries as severe and disfiguring, though expert evidence suggested they were likely survivable on their own. Prosecution experts concluded that the probable cause of death was hyperthermia and heat stroke rather than the burns themselves.

Gartshore has not explained why, when or how the incident occurred, either during the trial or to the criminal justice social worker who prepared her background report.

Her defence lawyer, Murray Macara, told the court he could offer no compelling explanation for her actions, but suggested she may have been attempting, recklessly, to warm the baby because she was cold. The defence had argued at trial that Dahlia-Rose might already have died of an unrelated and unexplained cause before being exposed to the hairdryer, an argument the jury rejected in reaching its unanimous verdict.

Sentencing Gartshore, Judge Collins called the case “uniquely disturbing” and told her she would have to “live the rest of your life with the knowledge that you were responsible for her death.” He described her actions as “a gross breach of the most basic duty as a parent.”

While he accepted she had not intended to harm or kill Dahlia-Rose, he said her level of carelessness amounted to the highest degree of culpability, and that it should have been obvious the baby was in severe distress and pain.

Gartshore appeared at the sentencing via video link wearing a navy prison uniform. She was visibly emotional and cried throughout the hearing.

Following the conviction, Detective Inspector James Callander said “children are defenceless and should be protected,” adding that the death of any child is harrowing but that a child’s death at the hands of a parent is incredibly disturbing.

He said everyone involved in the investigation had worked to secure the outcome. Further comment from investigators beyond what has been reported is not confirmed at this time.