Image copyright Hampshire Constabulary

A three-year-old girl drowned by her mother, repeatedly touched her mother's face and said she loved her moments before she was killed, a jury hears.

Claire Colebourn woke her daughter up in the middle of the night, ran her a bath and killed her, jurors were told.

Bethan Colebourn was found dead at the family home in Fordingbridge, Hampshire on 19 October 2017.

Mrs Colebourn admits a failed suicide bid on the same night but denies murdering her daughter.

She told Winchester Crown Court that her husband Michael had moved out the month before and said Bethan was "suffering" because of the separation and would be "a lot safer in heaven".

'Feels for her mummy'

Giving evidence, she said her emotions were being "hammered" by the split from Michael, the chief executive of marine interiors firm Trimline.

She said: "When... you see your beautiful little girl suffering because she feels for her mummy, then she's going to be a lot safer in heaven than she is anywhere near her father.

"Because her spirit can be at peace and Michael would not let us be at peace."

Often breaking down in the witness box, Mrs Colebourn said her "head just went bam" on the night of the killing.

Bethan was found dead by her grandmother at the family home in Whitsbury Road.

The jury previously heard Mrs Colebourn was revived by paramedics after trying to take her own life by repeatedly injecting herself with insulin.

The former sixth form college teacher was asked by prosecutor Kerry Maylin if she had intended to kill Bethan and commit suicide, to which she replied, "Sadly yes".

Mrs Colebourn said she believed her husband had been having an affair, had been financially controlling and had monitored her laptop and phone.

'Drowned my own daughter'

The prosecution previously said her fears about an affair were "unfounded".

Citing emotional abuse, the defendant told the court earlier: "My only aim was keeping Bethan safe... The only way out was for both of us to go away."

Describing Bethan's reaction to being woken up for a bath in the early hours, Mrs Colebourn told detectives: "She knew I wasn't right because she kept coming up to me... put her hands on my cheeks and told me she loved me."

"Then I drowned my own daughter. I drowned my own daughter," the court heard.

The trial continues.