Mother covered up babies' deaths

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Kerry Ardis pleaded guilty to the charges

A woman has admitted covering up the birth and burial of two babies at a property in Plymouth.

Kerry Ardis, 21, of Poole Park Road in the Barne Barton area of the Devon city, pleaded guilty to four charges at the city's crown court.

Her daughter's body was found in a wardrobe in 2005, while the body of her son was recovered from the garden in June 2008.

Ardis will return to court for sentencing on 12 September.

In the first case, the 21-year-old had been staying with her parents when her father found a baby's decomposed remains at the bottom of a bedroom wardrobe.

At the time a decision was made by the Crown Prosecution Service not to prosecute Ardis as taking her to court would "not be in the public interest".

On the second occasion her father found the remains of a son hidden in a box in the garden and Ardis was later charged with covering up the births and deaths.

Det Sgt Barry Walter, of Devon and Cornwall Police, said: "Initially Kerry claimed this was a twin from 2005 but it was then confirmed as a new pregnancy."

The fathers of both babies were unaware that she had given birth and have only recently been told what has happened.