Hythe baby death: Silipa Keresi jailed for woodland murder

Keresi, originally from Fiji, had wanted an abortion but was over the time limit, her trial heard

A mother who left her newborn baby for dead in woodland has been been sentenced to a minimum of nine years in jail.

Maliki Keresi's body was discovered close to Shore Road in Hythe, near Southampton, in 2020.

His mother Silipa Keresi, 38, was found guilty of murder following a trial at Winchester Crown Court.

Passing a life sentence, Mr Justice Garnham said the child was left "exposed, defenceless and abandoned".

Maliki's body was found in dense woodland wrapped in a bloodstained bath towel by a dog walker on the afternoon of 5 March 2020.

A post-mortem examination found the cause of death was "omission of care".

Tests showed he had suffered severe hypothermia and died within 24 hours of birth, consistent with being abandoned.

Her trial was told Keresi, originally from Fiji, had wanted an abortion but was over the time limit when she inquired in November 2019.

Prosecutors said she had "not engaged" with medical and social services in the subsequent months.

The body of the newborn boy was found close to Shore Road in March 2020

Keresi, who has four other children, told the court she was "stressed and depressed" when she found out she was 26 weeks pregnant in November 2019.

She did not tell her husband Dharma Keresi, a Commonwealth soldier who had left the British Army in 2017, the court heard.

By the end of 2019 the family had lost their right to stay in the UK, were receiving no social security benefits, and had been living in a small hotel room.

Following an earlier pregnancy, Silipa Keresi told health visitors she was being subjected to domestic violence.

The court heard she left the hotel room in the early hours and gave birth by a roadside, before carrying her child into the woods and leaving him at the foot of a tree.

Jurors were shown CCTV footage of Mrs Keresi leaving the Fountain Court Hotel in Hythe early on 4 March 2020

Mr Justice Garnham told her she had "denied the pregnancy to yourself, pretending it was not happening".

"Abandoning your baby was a truly dreadful thing to do," he said.

"This was an act of desperation of a vulnerable woman" who was suffering "acute stress and anxiety" at the time of the birth, the judge said.

"I accept you acted in a way that was wholly out of character and you would not have done what you did but for the extreme nature of your personal circumstances," he added.

Speaking after the sentencing, Det Ch Insp Adam Edwards said the baby's death was "truly heartbreaking".

"I want to take this chance to speak to any new or expecting mothers who find themselves in a situation or circumstance which may lead them considering such extreme actions as those we have seen in this case; please know, there is always help out there for you," he added.