Newborn Buried Alive By Mentally Ill Mother

A mentally ill woman who lived rough in a London graveyard has admitted burying her newborn baby alive.

The crime was discovered when the baby’s body parts, which had been dug up and carried by a fox, were found by a worker in a tractor yard in south-west London.

Latvian Elita Amantova, 39, told the Old Bailey she was living off berries and bread left out for birds before she gave birth to the child in 2012.

She had been diagnosed with a schizophrenia-like mental condition in Latvia in her thirties that had been made worse by childbirth.

Amantova pleaded guilty to infanticide and has been sentenced to a hospital order. The judge said that she would probably need lifelong treatment and care.

The court heard that on 10 September 2012, a worker found a baby’s decaying leg and foot on the ground at the tractor yard next to Tooting Common.

Prosecutor Zoe Johnson QC said: "The leg was infested with maggots. In a search, another limb was found, the thigh and calf had been eaten through exposing bone.

"Later, a fox expert was called to the yard and discovered a fox entrance. A fox is likely to have found those body parts on Tooting Common and brought the parts into the yard."

Ms Johnson said that Amantova had an "appalling experience" after coming to the UK around 2008. She lost her job and was made to work as a prostitute by criminals in Norfolk.

She ran away to London in August 2012 and, while heavily pregnant, slept on gravestones and survived on food left for birds. She also wore a blonde wig at this time.

A member of the public alerted police but she refused help to move into suitable accommodation. Officers decided there was nothing more they could do. DNA tests identified Amantova as the baby’s mother.

On 17 September 2012 she was found sitting on her haunches outside a supermarket saying it was a "nice day". She was arrested but not interviewed for five months because of her mental state.

She told police that she had given birth without assistance in August 2012. She said she had buried the baby on the same day in a park but initially refused to confirm whether it was alive or dead at the time.

In an interview in April 2013 she admitted to a doctor that the child had been alive and she was charged with murder.

However, at the hearing she pleaded not guilty to murder but admitted infanticide and this was accepted by the prosecution.

Amantova said she thought she knew who the baby’s father was but had no contact with him and he was unaware of all the events.

Judge Paul Worsley QC said that infanticide was a "rare offence".

He continued: "The court must always mark the serious fact a life has been taken" but said that a hospital order was appropriate in this case.