Mother guilty of killing baby son

A teenage mother who killed her baby within hours of giving birth has been given a community sentence with mental health treatment.

Andrea Harrigan, 19, from Birchfield Crescent, from Northampton, stuffed rolled-up leaves into the mouth of her newborn son Eithan in April last year.

His body was left under a lawnmower in a garden, Leicester Crown Court heard.

She had denied murder but a guilty plea of infanticide was accepted by defence and prosecution psychiatrists.

The community order with supervision will last 36 months and she must under go mental health treatment for two years.

The defendant told the mother she was scared and the baby was underneath the lawnmower Ann Cotcher QC

Harrigan already had one son and had kept the pregnancy secret from her mother, the court was told.

Prosecutor Ann Cotcher QC said: "This young lady found herself pregnant again and never told her mother."

Miss Cotcher told the court that on the morning of 22 April last year Harrigan's mother found the kitchen carpet had been moved and there was a red jelly-like substance on the floor.

Born alive

The 19-year-old claimed she was unwell. Her mother suspected she had had another baby and asked where it was but Harrigan burst into tears, the court heard.

Miss Cotcher said: "Eventually the defendant told the mother she was scared and the baby was underneath the lawnmower."

Paramedics found the newborn unresponsive and covered in twigs and blood, the court heard. He was then pronounced dead.

A post-mortem examination found two rolled-up leaves, one in Eithan's mouth and another in his pharynx.

As there was oxygen present in his lungs, it was decided he had been born alive, Miss Cotcher said.

The cause of death was given as asphyxiation, she said.

Clearly suffering

The pathologist could not discount that a hand might have been put over the baby's nose and mouth.

Harrigan said she had no recollection of putting the leaves in her son's mouth.

Psychiatrists agreed the 19-year-old "clearly was suffering" which was why a charge of infanticide had been agreed.

Judge Charles Wide QC said: "This is a tragic case.

"You plainly satisfy the requirements for making a community order with a mental health treatment requirement."

The judge recorded a formal not guilty verdict for the count of murder.

Lynn Tayton QC, representing Harrigan, said: "She is extremely confused about what happened. She has suffered guilt and she has suffered distress and she is not sleeping."