The 32-year-old mother who dumped her day-old baby in a drain in 2014 has been sentenced to 3.5 years jail.
The sentence was ruled yesterday, with the court hearing that she had visited the drain in the days after dumping her baby boy to hear for crying. When she didn’t, she assumed he’d died.
She plead guilty to charges of abandoning a child and recklessly causing grievous bodily harm.
Five days after the baby was left in the 2.4m-deep drain beside the M2 motorway at Quakers Hill, passing cyclists heard crying.
He was found malnourished and dehydrated, but according to his foster carers, he’s now doing very well.
The mother, who cannot be named, was found to have the intellectual capacity of a mid-primary school age child. Despite a Blacktown Hospital staff member having concerns about the woman, she was discharged the day after giving birth.
The mother told police that after catching a train to Quakers Hill with the baby, “I just saw the drain. Then I just put baby in there.”
The court heard that she became sad during her pregnancy because her boyfriend left her, and she was feared the disapproval of her family.
Judge Andrew Colefax said that the woman’s prospects of rehabilitation were high. “The perfect storm of factors which led to this shocking crime were both largely out of the control of the offender and are extremely unlikely to be repeated,” he said.
She will be eligible for parole next month as she has already served one year and nine months in prison.
