MOTHER AVOIDS JAIL OVER DUMPED BABY
A mother who abandoned her newborn baby daughter behind bushes in a park while suffering from post natal depression wept today as she avoided prison.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was handed a six-month custodial sentence, suspended for two years, at Birmingham Crown Court.
The defendant, in her mid-20s, had admitted wilfully abandoning the baby in a manner likely to cause her unnecessary suffering or injury to health at a hearing at the court in May.
Sentencing the woman, Judge Simon Drew QC said the woman had acted in "panic and desperation".
He said she had been suffering a "severe depressive episode while suffering from a major depressive disorder" when she left her baby in the park hours after it was born in October last year.
The court heard the woman, who appeared in the dock wearing a black cardigan and white blouse, already had other children and had broken up with their father.
She had hidden the pregnancy from her family and did not involve medical professionals because she was scared and feared she could not cope, the court heard.
The woman gave birth to the baby on the bathroom floor at her mother's home.
The judge said: "The defendant was suffering from postal natal depression. When her partner left things began to spiral out of control."
He said she feared her children would be taken away from her and decided to conceal the pregnancy.
Following the birth, the woman washed and fed the baby before taking it to the park and leaving it behind bushes in a carrier bag.
Judge Drew said: "You wrapped her in a towel and took her to the park hoping she would be quickly found.
"The child was very young, hours old and therefore very vulnerable".
The court heard the baby was discovered by Roger Wilday after his dog Jade refused to move from a spot near some bushes.
The baby's face was blue but she was moving and crying in the bag, the court heard.
Mr Wilday called 999 and on arrival a police officer wrapped the baby in his fleece before ambulance crews arrived.
The baby was taken to Heartlands Hospital, where she was placed in an incubator suffering from hypothermia. She was discharged two weeks later into foster care.
Today the judge praised the actions of those involved in recovering the baby.
He said: "I pay tribute to the actions of Mr Roger Wilday, the emergency services and maternity unit at Heartlands Hospital and not forgetting the walker's dog Jade.
Prosecutor Rhydian James said it was a "large stroke of luck" the baby was discovered.
"Had the baby not been found at that time it would have been very unlikely she would have survived given the conditions at the time," he told the court.
After her arrest, the woman told police she had been "scared" and "didn't know what was going through her head" when she left her baby in the park, Mr James told the court.
Defending the woman, Tarlowchan Dubb said: "The facts of this case are extraordinary. The crime goes against the laws of nature in a profound way."
He praised the "civil spirited" actions of the dog walker for saving the baby's life.
Mr Dubb told the court the woman had feared losing her other children and the support of her family.
He said her actions were the result of "sheer desperation".
