Mum keeps secret baby in drawer for three years before she was found

A woman has been imprisoned after hiding her child in a drawer under her bed for nearly three years, with the child being discovered just weeks shy of turning three. Described as having matted hair, deformities, and rashes upon discovery at their Cheshire home, Chester Crown Court learnt of the disturbing conditions.

The mother, who remains unnamed to protect the child's identity, managed to keep the existence of her daughter secret even from her other children and her partner who frequently visited. .

Honorary Recorder of Chester Judge Steven Everett, during sentencing for her admission of child cruelty, expressed his disbelief: "To my mind what you did totally defies belief. You starved that little girl of any love, any proper affection, any proper attention, any interaction with others, a proper diet, much-needed medical attention."

He castigated the mother further: "You attempted to control this situation as carefully as you could but by sheer chance your terrible secret was discovered. The consequences for (the child) were nothing short of catastrophic – physically, psychologically and socially."

He noted the resilience and slow recovery of the young girl, stating she is an "intelligent little girl who is now perhaps slowly coming to life from what was almost a living death in that room". Failing to get medical help for the child’s cleft palate, the court also heard how the mother inappropriately nourished her daughter with milky Weetabix fed through a syringe, reports the Mirror.

Sion ap Mihangel, the prosecutor, revealed: "She was kept in a drawer in the bedroom, not taken outside, not socialised, no interaction with anybody else."

He informed the court that the child, when first admitted to hospital, had a developmental age of zero to 10 months and was severely malnourished and dehydrated. The prosecutor explained that the infant was left alone while her mother took her other children to school, went to work, and even when she stayed with relatives over Christmas.

When the mother's boyfriend started staying overnight at the property, the child was moved to another room and left there alone, the court heard. The young girl was discovered when the mother's partner returned to the house one morning after the mother had left.

He heard a noise, entered one of the bedrooms, and found the child. After leaving the house, he alerted family members and later that day, social services arrived and found the child in the bed drawer.

In a statement, the social worker said she saw the child sitting in the drawer and asked the mother if that was where she kept her daughter. "She replied matter of factly 'yes, in the drawer'," the social worker stated.

"I was shocked the mother did not show any emotion and appeared blasé about the situation. It became an overwhelming horror that I was probably the only other face (the child) had seen apart from her mother's."

Two police officers were moved to tears in court as they listened to a heart-wrenching statement from the foster carer of a neglected child, which the judge labelled "truly devastating". The carer disclosed: "It became very apparent she did not know her own name when we called her."

In her interview, the mother told police that she was unaware of her pregnancy and felt "really scared" upon giving birth.

She insisted that the baby wasn't always kept in the drawer under the bed and that it was never shut, but admitted to officers that the child was "not part of the family". She explained to social workers her abusive relationship with the father and her desire to keep the child a secret from him.

Matthew Dunford highlighted an "exceptional set of circumstances", including the woman's mental health issues, her tumultuous relationship with the child's father, and the strains of the Covid lockdown. As Dunford spoke, the defendant dabbed at her eyes with a tissue, mourning the fact that her other children, whom she had cared for adequately, were no longer in her custody.

Rachel Worthington, senior crown prosecutor for CPS Mersey-Cheshire, commented on the severity of the neglect, saying: "This child has never had a birthday present, a Christmas present or anything to recognise these days. She's had no interaction with any of her siblings. She hadn't known daylight or fresh air and didn't respond to her own name when she was first found."

She said: "The motive behind the mother's behaviour is still not clear, but that is not the role of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Our job is to bring the person responsible to justice. That has now been done and it is the profound hope of the CPS that the victim in this case recovers sufficiently to live as full a life as possible."

The woman admitted her guilt in October to four offences of child cruelty, recognising her neglect in failing to secure elementary medical attention for the child, abandonment, starving, and general neglect.