Teenage mother 'murdered baby by stuffing cotton wool in mouth'

Paris Mayo is on trial at Worcester Crown Court

A teenage girl murdered her newborn baby by assaulting him and stuffing his throat with cotton wool, a court heard.

Paris Mayo, who is 19 but was 15 at the time of the incident, has gone on trial accused of killing Stanley Mayo shortly after giving birth at her parents' home in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire.

Worcester Crown Court heard how she put her baby in a bin bag and hoped that her mother would think it was rubbish.

Miss Mayo, from Ruardean, Gloucestershire, denies murder.

The birth took place in the living room in Springfield Avenue between 21:30 GMT and 22:30 GMT on 23 March 2019 with the defendant delivering him alone, the court was told.

Prosecuting barrister Jonas Hankin KC said her mother and father were in the house, but were upstairs where her father, who was unwell, was performing home dialysis.

He added that following delivery, the defendant assaulted the baby, fracturing the upper left and upper right sides of the skull and causing a severe brain injury.

999 call

About two hours later, "realising the baby was still alive, the defendant stuffed pieces of cotton wool into his mouth, throat and neck", the Crown's KC said.

She deposited the bin bag on the front doorstep outside, Mr Hankin said.

"The following morning, she texted her brother, who by then was in the house, this message: 'When you go outside, can you put the black bag in the bin, it's just full of sick from last night, please'."

Her mother looked inside and found the body, the court heard.

She rang 999, telling the call operator her daughter had given birth, and "could be heard addressing her daughter saying, 'You could have told me, darling, you could have told me - poor baby', and repeating, 'Why didn't you tell me?"'

'Is it my fault?'

The defendant told paramedics the baby had come out really quickly and that he was not moving or breathing.

She said the baby "had stuff coming out of its mouth and she used cotton wool to try to clean it up", Mr Hankin stated.

Travelling to hospital with her mother and the lifeless baby in an ambulance, Miss Mayo was heard by paramedics to say: "Is it my fault? Did I do this?", and later: "It's my fault, it's my fault."

The court heard Miss Mayo told paramedics and nursing staff she had not known she was pregnant and she had had some bleeding before the baby was born, but not like her normal periods.

Her older sister had asked her if she was pregnant, but Miss Mayo had denied it, the court was told.

But she had told a social media friend she was finishing a relationship as it was not fair to her then boyfriend if she was having a baby.

Mr Hankin said: "The prosecution says that the defendant killed the baby to prevent the discovery of her pregnancy and his birth."

The case continues.