A baby girl found in a shopping bag in London this year is the third child abandoned by the same parents, it can now be reported.
Baby “Elsa” was found in Newham by a dog walker on January 18 in sub-zero temperatures. DNA tests have established that Elsa is the sibling of two babies, a boy and a girl, found in very similar circumstances in 2017 and 2019.
Despite appeals by the Metropolitan Police, their parents have not been identified. The BBC and PA Media applied to the East London Family Court for reporting restrictions to be changed to allow the sibling link to be reported. Judge Carol Atkinson ruled restrictions should be lifted to allow the reporting of the relationship between the children, claiming it was needed for the “openness of justice”.
The DNA testing showed that baby Elsa has a brother and sister known as Baby Harry and Baby Roman.
Elsa was believed to be less than hour old when she was found abandoned in a shopping bag at the junction of Greenway and High Street South in East Ham in January. Hospital staff gave her the name Elsa, after the main character in the animated Disney film Frozen, because she was discovered in the cold.
Her sister, Roman, was found in similar circumstances in a play area off Roman Road, Newham, in early February 2019, as freezing temperatures and snow gripped the capital. In September 2017, Harry had been found wrapped in a blanket in Balaam Street, Plaistow.
Judge Atkinson said: “There is a clear public interest in reporting this story.
“The abandonment of a baby in this country is a very, very unusual event and there are years where there are no children abandoned, and because of that it is the story of the abandoning of a child that is of public interest.” She added: “It is for the same reason, in our society, of enormous interest and importance that people know that there is a mother and father out there who felt the need to relinquish their children in this way, three times, and that is of considerable interest, it seems to me.”
Police said previous appeals issued in the case remained active.
Officers previously asked for help to identify a woman seen wearing a large dark coat with a light coloured scarf or hood around her neck and had a rucksack on her back, shortly before Elsa was found.
Detectives said they believed she could hold important information about how Elsa came to be where she was found.
Met DI Jamie Humm said: "We understand the significant public interest that will come following the lifting of restrictions that allow this information to be reported. It is significant news and our work has focused on trying to locate the mother and provide support to her.
"We have worked 24/7 in each of these three cases to identify the parents, so far without success.
"We have also had to be mindful of the sensitivities that exist now all of the children are being cared for. Their welfare, including their privacy, is paramount.
"We continue to investigate, and will consider the next steps in our investigation."
Only certain details of the three children may be reported. Harry and Roman — not their real names — have since been adopted.
But Kate Claxton KC, representing Newham council, previously told the court that the ongoing investigation meant that Elsa’s birth could not be registered, meaning no final decision regarding her care could be made.
A further hearing in her case is expected to be held at a later date.
While journalists can usually attend family court proceedings, reporting restrictions limit what can be published to protect the anonymity of those involved. A pilot scheme to increase transparency in the family court system was expanded this year to allow accredited journalists and legal bloggers to report on cases at 16 courts across England and Wales.
