Pair admit concealing baby’s birth after newborn’s skeleton found near a railway line

A man and a woman have admitted concealing the birth of a baby after a newborn’s skeleton was found near a railway line, a court heard.

James Hamshaw, 23, and Claire Cook, 24, (pictured above) were arrested after police made the discovery at a track under Queen Street in Bedworth, Warwickshire on September 21.

Tests confirmed the skeleton belonged to a newborn baby, which was born in August 2014.

The pair pleaded guilty to concealing a birth last month at Warwickshire Magistrates Court.

However, their sentencing was adjourned last week at Warwick Crown Court because post-mortem examinations on the remains have not concluded.

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Prosecutor Sally Hancox said: “Following the birth of the baby in 2014, nothing was known or said about it until Hamshaw was interviewed in a different part of the country.”

She said a decision to charge the pair was taken “before it should have been, because the simple truth is that all the post-mortem investigations have not been completed”.

Claire Cook pictured outside court (Picture: SWNS)

She added: “The Crown do not know as to what, if any, further charges will arise from the conclusion of the scientific investigation.”

The court head that Cook is on police bail as well as court bail as investigations continue into the discovery of the skeleton.

Asking the judge to adjourn the case, she said: “We hope by then to have a final definitive indication as to what the conclusions of the medical investigation are.”

Judge Richard Griffith-Jones adjourned the case until December 9 but there is expected to be a hearing before then for Hamshaw to make a bail application.

Cook, of Bedworth, was granted conditional bail and Hamshaw, of no fixed address, was remanded in custody.

(Main Picture: SWNS)