"Chloe was my bubbly princess," says dad of girl killed by mother
8:58am Thursday 6th September 2012 in News
"Chloe was my bubbly princess," says dad of girl killed by mother
A GRIEVING father has spoken of his “beautiful, bubbly princess” — the four-year-old daughter who was stabbed to death by her mother.
Dawn Makin, aged 35, was jailed for 12 years last Thursday after admitting the manslaughter of Chloe Burke on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
She had been praised as a “model parent” and Chloe’s father, Michael Burke, described her as a “fantastic” mother who “doted on” her daughter.
But Chloe was found dead at her home in Lea Mount Drive, Fairfield, on February 17 last year after Makin cut her throat and stabbed her in the neck and chest.
Makin, who was suffering from mental health problems, tried to take her own life by cutting her wrists, taking paracetemol and drinking anti-freeze. She survived and is now permanently disabled.
Mr Burke fought back tears as he spoke after the hearing at Preston Crown Court. He said: “Chloe can rest now, now it’s all over. I’m so glad it’s over. It’s been an absolute nightmare. I can’t cope without her.
“She was beautiful, bubbly, my princess. I miss her so much.”
Mr Burke, who lived with Chloe and Makin before the couple separated in 2009, said he wished she had shared her problems with him.
Makin had been dismissed from her job as a nurse practitioner at Moorgate Primary Care Centre in Bury, faced prosecution for sharing patients’ information and her relationship with partner Martin Campbell had ended.
Mr Burke also said he was “absolutely shocked” by the prison sentence.
“She had chances to speak to me, plenty of chances to tell me what was going on, but she was too ashamed to tell me.
“I feel sorry for her in a way, because she wasn’t in her right state of mind,” he said.
He also thanked family and friends for their support since Chloe’s death and his employer for paying for Chloe’s headstone.
Outside court, solicitor Louise Straw read a statement on behalf of Makin’s mother, Sheila Makin.
She said: “Words cannot describe the utter despair that would drive a mother to take the life of her only child and thereafter attempt to take her own.
“Equally, words fail to describe the desolation each day that the terrible tragedy has brought and continues to bring to Dawn Makin and her family.
“This was a catastrophic crime committed by a mother who was seriously mentally deranged.
“The law has taken its course and has recognised that at the time, Dawn Makin suffered a serious mental illness and she must now live with the consequences.”
