TW. Lady who buried newborn in Gullivers world

[GreenCandleWarmth]

Hello all
Obviously we have to be careful what we say but I've been reading this trial and the notes. This lady gave birth 28 years ago. A concealed pregnancy and dumped the already deceased baby on the edges of a theme park. She was only found in 2023 when her son was arrested and his DNA marched that of this baby. How can you have kept this a secret all this time ??

And some women also hide the fact they’re pregnant TO THEMSELVES and only discover they are indeed pg when they give birth…..

She would have planned to kill her baby the whole pregnancy or it wouldn’t have been concealed.

My friend concealed a pregnancy and had no plans to kill her baby. HTH.

I cannot see what possible good a custodial sentence would do for anyone.

Me neither.

Not saying this is what happened is this case, but neither me or DP knew she was pregnant, until she went into labour.

SIL got her to hospital, and DD was born at 11am, but I didn't find out until 8pm that I was a Dad. We'd only been going out 10 months, and DP was in a complete panic and couldn't deal with the thought of telling me until then.

Joanne Sharkey: Suspended sentence for mum who killed baby - BBC News

The sentencing is suspended sentence.

Sadly, justice hasn't been done. Suspended sentence.

So she never sought help for PND at the time, so it was never documented. She never gave herself up in more than 25 years, until she was found out when her other son's DNA on the database matched that of the murdered baby's and then Joanne and her husband.

A dog walker found her baby's remains. Local school girls were arrested as suspects. Local people mourned for him and got together to hold and pay for a respectable funeral for baby Callum, to show that he was loved and people cared.

The PND has been diagnosed retrospectively. But what's been stopping her for giving herself in, in over 25 years? Maybe she hoped she'd get away with it for life.

I don't know how you can live with that for a quarter of a century and not go to the police and confess to what you've done.

I had really bad pnd twice

No support at all and I can see how this happened-mental illness can make you do things you wouldn't normally do

In that very dark place in your head,you can do things that are unthinkable

I didn't kill my babies,but I came very close more than once (and was fobbed off by doctors as 'making it all up')

It's by the sheer grace of god,I didn't do the same thing

I feel very sorry for this lady and her family-her feelings of shame must have been strong

I hope they are getting the help and support they need-there are no winners in a case like this

I knew they don't give jail time for neonaticide and I agree with it. She hasn't got away with no punishment though as she's been named and shamed by having her photo published and slagged off on social media.

I agree that imprisoning her would be unlikely to achieve anything; the sentence is probably correct.

However, reading the reports about how local wives and young girls at the time were arrested and questioned as suspects - it’s hard to understand how she could watch innocent people having their lives blown apart like that. Obviously she was suffering herself, but to cause suffering to others - a baby and then local families who came under suspicion - it’s hard to understand how anyone even in a really dark place can do that

Very sad case. I am a similar age to this woman and had young children in the 1990s. PND and postpartum psychosis were known and mother and baby units existed for the most severe cases. Given the abysmal state of the mental health and GP services these days, I don't understand why people are saying she'd get better treatment now.

People saying they don't understand how she could have kept the secret... I think lots of women take secrets to the grave... especially when they think the secret coming out will hurt their loved ones.

Maybe she hoped to keep it away from her son?

Over 50 years ago I had a neighbour with a new baby and a daughter slightly older than my child. I also had a new baby. In the mother and child group there was a general consensus that my neighbour was in trouble and we were all concerned for the older child. The new baby was thriving . The father was away on the oil Riggs for considerable periods of time. In our group I was elected to inform gp or health visitor etc. several of the mothers in the group were nurses . I had a fruitless job . Neither the health visitor nor the gp believed me even though I explained that the child was locked in her room and not allowed to go to the toilet. The mother would tell me that she couldn’t cope and would bring the baby round to me as soon as my husband had left for work. I was equally a new mum with now two babies . I managed to contact her mother who came to stay but who in the end had to call an ambulance. It was dreadful, straitjacket ,screaming in the middle of the night. I’ve never forgotten the poor woman and she was diagnosed with full post natal puerperal psychosis. Things may have improved but I still remember the disbelief on the face of the medical professionals. I come from a medical family. Please have compassion

It's absolutely tragic.

I don't know how I feel. Yes it's absolutely awful what she did, and there are options, but I'm also aware that I had incredible family support, no pda. A lack of the first and the presence of the second must have made her so so poorly and not in the right state of mind to have made the right decision.

I don't think she's evil. I think she was a very unwell lady who made a terrible decision and has to live with what she's done and will continue to have to do so for the rest of the life, with everyone knowing what she did. I dont personally think jailing her would be in anyone's best interests.

The poor little baby though. And the dad and thr other child who must have been completely blindsided by the news. The dad must be carrying an immense amount of guilt for leaving her to do everything and not noticing his wife was pregnant.

I genuinely feel sorry for all of them.

One of the news reports says she has a personality disorder. It also says she has to receive MH help for 12 months.

I haven’t seen any report that said she was diagnosed with PND at the time, which is what someone above implied. Some reports have said she was struggling to cope with her older child and working full-time.

I initially felt sympathy for her but reading later reports that sympathy has reduced. Baby Callum had bruising on his face and tissue paper in his mouth, yet her account conveniently limits what she did to putting her hand over his mouth when he made a noise. I had assumed her husband and son were in the house, hence the urge to stop the baby’s noises. However, it’s reported she gave birth alone in the house. So, no need to…do those things.

My compassion is for the baby who struggled so hard to live. I don’t think this woman is evil, as some have said, but I also don’t think she was unaware of what she was doing. I also wonder if her reported personality disorder played a part rather than the supposed PND.

She must have been in a deep depression to do what she did. Some experience delusions where the think the baby is the devil.
More common is abandoning a newborn.
Such a burden to carry. I expect she is still traumatised.
im glad the judge showed compassion.
I had very severe PND with DS1 and was terrified of him.. it took me 18 months to actually feel he was “ mine”

I had severe PND - whilst it was turned inwards - try to kill myself rather than the DC - it really messes with your mind. I don't think anyone who hasn't experienced the irrationality of that particular hell would be able to understand just how desperate you can feel.

I appreciate some of your comments about PND but I saw the arrest footage and she didn’t seem too bothered she was saying ‘it is what it is’ just seemed a cold way to speak about it.
I wonder how she has felt about it all these years and whether she feels any remorse ?

Unless you've experienced the horror of PND you simply won't understand the absolute darkness of the place it takes you to. It's a vile chemical cocktail that poisons your mind and destroys your sense of self.

Not true. Men can suffer from PND too.

Although realistically if a father had stuffed tissue down his baby's throat everyone would be too busy portraying him as a monster to worry about his mental health.

https://www.nct.org.uk/information/life-parent/wellbeing-mental-health/postnatal-depression-dads-and-co-parents-10-things-you-should-know

New Dads might suffer situational depression caused by the stress and upheaval of caring for a baby. But it's not the vile chemical poisoning that occurs when you absolutely cannot tolerate your own progesterone fluctuations.

A new Dads situational depression can be alleviated/cured by outside factors like getting physical help with the baby, counselling, better sleep etc.

Severe progesterone intolerance cannot be alleviated by any of these things. It's chemical.

When DD1 was born I had every possible luxury, tonnes of support, loads of sleep, a cleaner, meal service. Everything. But I still felt utter despair, crippling anxiety and had suicidal ideation because I am so severely progesterone intolerant.

Very sad and I don’t think her photo should have been printed everywhere. It is a lot for her family to come to terms with.

It's the fact that she didn't own up to it and let other people's lives be impacted that doesn't sit right with me. Even if she was psychotic at the time she hasn't been for all of the last 20 years as people are describing her ad 'a nice woman who worked at the council'.

If a man had a mental breakdown, killed a baby, and then tried to hide it for 20 years whilst loads of innocent people from his local community were pulled in by the police? Would people on here be sympathetic?

It's a very different situation. The man wouldn't have gone through pregnancy and childbirth and, in the vast majority of cases, would not be expected to be the baby's primary caregiver (or be the primary caregiver for existing children).