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WA mum who starved her unwanted baby jailed for 10 years

A WA mother has been sentenced to 10 years' jail for leaving her unwanted baby daughter to starve, before the child's lifeless body was found in a cooler bag in a shed.

Tamara Thompson pleaded guilty to manslaughter midway through her trial after her daughter Destiny's body was found in the woman's Geraldton backyard.

The court had heard Destiny's father was the Thompson's drug dealer, and the 38-year-old later lied to people who asked about Destiny's whereabouts.

Thompson's landlord alerted the authorities when she inspected the property - which was home to two of Thompson's other children and a menagerie of dogs, cats, ducks, rabbits and chickens - and saw her rocking back and forth, surrounded by animal faeces.

WA mother-of-five Tamara Thompson.
WA mother-of-five Tamara Thompson.

After she was arrested, Thompson told police she was relieved when Destiny died, didn't know what had happened to her body, and didn't care.

During last week's court hearing, defence counsel Helen Prince said Thompson had an underlying borderline personality disorder and as her depression worsened, she was "using meth so she could carry out the functions of daily living".

But police prosecutors said the mother-of-five was "grossly reckless" by neglecting the needs of her infant daughter.

On Friday Thompson was sentenced to 10 years, with a non-parole period of eight years.

Given time already served, Thompson is scheduled for release in July 2023.