A panicked mother threw her newborn son over a flat balcony moments after giving birth having been in extreme denial about the pregnancy, a court has been told.
Care home worker Sarah Jayne Barron pleaded guilty to infanticide after the baby’s body was discovered in a neighbour’s garden in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, on December 12, 2020.
Eight days earlier, the 34-year-old had given birth to the boy – later named Noah Taylor – on the toilet in the flat she shared with her partner before dropping him 15ft into the garden where she left him.
Noah was found to have died from blunt impact head injuries consistent with a fall from height and is said to have lived up to half an hour after the trauma was inflicted.
Barron did not tell anyone about the pregnancy and relationship and financial pressures, including the stress of working in the care sector throughout the pandemic, led to her developing a psychological disorder that meant she “completely dissociated herself, mentally and physically” from the pregnancy.
At Bristol Crown Court on Friday, Mr Justice Linden handed Barron a three-year community order with rehabilitation and banned her from ever working with children and vulnerable adults.
Barron was initially charged with murder but the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) later accepted a plea of infanticide, a form of manslaughter.
The judge said that while the offence carried a sentence of up to life in prison, “the law recognises that what is required in this type of case is very often compassion, support and rehabilitation rather than punishment and retribution”.
It was noted in the hearing by Anna Vigars KC, prosecuting, that no mother has been imprisoned for the offence for 20 years.
During the hearing, Ms Vigars said Noah was found by Barron’s neighbour, who called police.
When first questioned, Barron denied ever being pregnant but later said she had miscarried.
She later admitted what she had done to police, saying she feared the baby was not her partner’s.
Her partner Phillip Taylor had been out buying Barron painkillers when she gave birth.
In a statement written by Mr Taylor and read to the court by Ms Vigars, he said the incident had impacted him and his family and he described it as “the worst time of my life”.
He said Noah’s funeral in January 2023 was the only opportunity he had to “carry and hold” his child.
He added: “If I’d known Sarah was pregnant or I’d come home in time to find she had given birth, I would have helped and supported her.
“Even though I’ve been through hell I want Sarah to get the help she needs.”
Charles Row KC, defending Barron, said: “The circumstances in this case could hardly be more distressing.”
Mr Row said Barron was homeless for a time in 2019 during which she began taking anti-depressants. She then entered a relationship with Mr Taylor and moved in with him shortly before the first coronavirus lockdown.
He said during the lockdown she was working in a low-paid job and under a huge amount of stress, earning £8.72 an hour doing night shifts.
Mr Row said: “She appears to have been utterly detached from the reality of her situation. In her mind, she created the narrative of a miscarriage. It was out of sight, out of mind. She carried on almost as normal and went back to work.
“She remains in an emotionally fragile state – the trauma of what she did still not fully realised by her. She still can’t come to terms with what she’s done.”
Two consultant psychiatrists who assessed Barron found she was suffering from pervasive pregnancy denial, calling it a “classic case” of the disorder.
She was also found to have a low IQ and reading age of 10 and 12 with “deficits in your verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning and processing speed”.
Addressing Barron, Mr Justice Linden said: “You were in an extreme state of denial about the pregnancy, to such an extent that you were virtually oblivious to it. You were therefore very shocked when you went into labour.
“Your mind was disturbed by an acute stress reaction and a dissociative disorder. And this is what caused you to act as you did.
“You did not tell him or anyone else about the pregnancy, whether family, friends or colleagues, nobody knew.
“You told your GP that you were not pregnant. You did not seek any antenatal support and you made no other preparations for the birth.
“When you came to give birth matters came to a head. You were in a state of extreme shock and you panicked.”
He added: “None of what I have said is to suggest that your offence was not serious. It is very serious. It resulted in the ultimate harm to a newborn baby.
“Noah’s life and his suffering should not be forgotten. But the mitigation in this case, as in most cases of this type, is powerful.”
Senior investigating officer, Superintendent Gary Haskins, said it was a “tragic and complex incident which has had a profound impact on all those involved”.
