News: Couple jailed after running away with newborn
A teenage mother and her partner have been jailed after fleeing from hospital with their newborn child to escape an interim care order.
The couple, from Beverley near Hull, hid the four day-old infant in a bag and fled from the Hull and East Yorkshire Women and Children’s Hospital. The mother had just learned that the baby was to be taken into care.
The couple were arrested hours later in Malton, North Yorkshire.
The mother’s solicitor Vicky Kirk said: “There was no sophistication, pre-planning or pre-organisation. She had a misconceived hope that she would not be subjected to the order. The order was made and thereafter they took the decision and there couldn’t have been any real planning. It was a split-second decision made to take this child.”
The solicitor added: “She takes full responsibility. The child was four days old and she was breastfeeding and caring for the child in hospital. When she heard the news [about the care order] it came as nothing but a shock to her. She was being treated herself in hospital at the time and was clearly acting out of pure natural instinct.”
The mother, who has a criminal record, also had an earlier child taken into care.
She, her 21 year-old partner and another relative pleaded guilty to knowingly taking a child without authority and were jailed for 84 days.
According to reports, the mother was led away from Hull Magistrates’ Court in tears.
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