Suspended sentence for estranged couple who hid dead baby in washing machine
An estranged husband and wife have been allowed to walk free after admitting their part in the death and concealment of their newborn daughter, found dead in a washing machine hidden under towels.
The mother, 39, who gave birth alone at her northern Brisbane home in January 2012, pleaded guilty to manslaughter for failing to care for her vulnerable child.
The infant was believed to have been just minutes old when she died.
She was sentenced to five years in prison which will be suspended from Monday.
The court heard how the 38-year-old her husband was likely to be responsible for hiding the newborn girl in the washing machine after his estranged wife gave birth at their home in Bald Hills in January 2012.
Her husband and the child's father, 39, pleaded guilty to being an accessory to manslaughter after Justice Ann Lyons determined he likely hid the baby girl in the washing machine and was sentenced to three years jail suspended after nine months, which has already been served.
Earlier in the day the mother of four had her sentencing adjourned after suffering a fit in the Brisbane Supreme Court on pleading guilty to the manslaughter of her baby daughter.
The mother, 39, was sitting next to her estranged husband, who had previously pleaded guilty to accessory to manslaughter, when she began to convulse.
Prosecutor Todd Fuller QC had just told Justice Ann Lyons how the mother had suffered from depression and anxiety in the lead up to the death of the baby in January 2012 and psychotic episodes after.
The father said outside court today that he was looking forward to seeing his children again.
The couple have four other children.
The father has been sentenced to three years imprisonment, suspended after nine months, after pleading guilty to accessory to manslaughter at Brisbane Supreme Court on today.
The mother and her husband, both 38, were charged in May 2012 with murdering their newborn daughter - four months after the baby’s body was discovered at a home in Alpine St, Bald Hills, on Brisbane’s northside.
The parents are also charged with the concealment of the birth of another child and its murder in 2010.
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