A Ceredigion mother whose baby son died after she drunkenly fell asleep on top of him has been freed by Court of Appeal judges.

Marina Tilby from Llwyncelyn admitted child cruelty through wilful neglect after going out on a drinking binge and passing out on top of her four-week-old baby, Darrian.

The 26-year-old was jailed for two years and four months at Swansea Crown Court in June.

But she was freed from prison last week after judges at the Court of Appeal, in London, reduced her sentence to 16 months and suspended it.

At the outset of his ruling, Mr Justice Fraser said: “This is undoubtedly a very tragic case.”

The judge, sitting with Lord Justice Singh and Mrs Justice Thornton, told the court Tilby took Darrian with her when she went out drinking with her sister on 29 March, 2017.

The pair drank Guinness in a pub before heading to the clubhouse at Quay West caravan park in New Quay at about 8.30pm.

The sisters met three men staying at the caravan park and went back to their caravan at the end of the evening.

Tilby fed Darrian before putting him down on a double bed and then going to sleep next to him.

When her sister came to look for her a short while later, she found Tilby lying on top of Darrian, who was unresponsive with blood on his nose.

Despite efforts to wake her, Tilby was unable to be roused from her sleep for an hour and a quarter while the baby was taken to Bronglais Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Medical evidence was unable to rule out the possibility Darrian’s death was caused by sudden infant death syndrome before Tilby had rolled onto him.

The judge said psychological reports made it clear that Darrian’s death had a "significant impact" on Tilby’s mental health and she had suffered a "deep depression".

Sentencing Tilby in June, Judge Paul Thomas told her she had shown "deliberate disregard" for her son’s welfare.

But her barrister, Dyfed Thomas, argued last week that her sentence was too long and could have been suspended.

“This young woman made a terrible, terrible mistake of becoming so drunk she couldn’t respond to her child’s needs.”

Allowing her appeal, Mr Justice Fraser said the original sentence was "manifestly excessive" in the light of her genuine remorse and her own suffering.

The judge said her offending was "one evening of neglect involving a lapse of judgement", rather than a prolonged period, and Darrian was "otherwise well cared for".

He added that it was "inevitable" that Tilby would be severely affected by her son’s death for the rest of her life.

The court also ordered Tilby to undergo supervision by the Probation Service for one year.