A mother who hid her child in a drawer to keep the baby a secret from her partner and other children for three years has been thrown behind bars.
The toddler had ‘never known daylight or fresh air’ until she was found crying on a bed by a visitor, Chester Crown Court heard.
The court was told how the mother hid the infant in a bed drawer in her Cheshire home, keeping her a secret from those around her.
The three-year-old, who had been fed milky Weetabix via a syringe, was so severely malnourished that she had the appearance of a seven-month-old infant.
Rachel Worthington from the Crown Prosecution Service told the court that the toddler had been left to ‘fend for herself’ without food for long periods of time.
She also said the the child did not respond to her own name after being discovered in the divan drawer.
The child was also found with matted hair, rashes, a cleft pallet and other medical issues for which her mother had not sought out medical advice or care, the court was told.
The tot’s mother previously pleaded guilty to four charges of child cruelty.
The judge ruled the mother cannot be identified to protect the victim’s identity – a common restriction in child protection cases.
The offences took place from around the start of 2020 until 2023, when a visitor discovered the child after hearing her cry.
After the baby girl was found, a social worker went to the home and said she was greeted by ‘overwhelming horror’ upon entering the room.
In her statement, she retold of how she asked the mother if she kept her three-year-old in the drawer.
The social worker was ‘shocked’ by the mother’s lack of emotion when she answered her question ‘matter of factly’, stating: ‘Yes, in the drawer’.
‘It became an overwhelming horror that I was probably the only other face [the girl] had seen apart from her mother’s,’ she said.
Due to the neglect, the child has serious developmental issues and is in foster care, the court was told.
The mother told police in an interview that she was unknowingly pregnant and was ‘really scared’ when she gave birth to the child, later telling officers the ‘baby was not a part of the family’.
She claimed the infant was not kept in the drawer underneath the bed all of the time and said the drawer was never shut.
During the interview, the mother became emotional when detailing how her children, who did not live with her any longer, were well cared for.
Sentencing the woman, Recorder Judge Everett said the mother’s conduct ‘totally defied belief’.
He said the child had been ‘starved. of any love, any proper affection, any proper attention, any interaction with others,’ as well as a ‘proper diet’ and ‘much-needed medical attention’.
He continued, describing the ordeal as ‘catastrophic’ for the little girl, adding that she experienced ‘almost a living death in that room’.
‘You attempted to control this situation as carefully as you could but by sheer chance your terrible secret was discovered,’
He added: ‘I don’t remember a case as bad as this in my 46 years.’
