A mom from the United Kingdom has been convicted on four counts of child abuse.
Police in Cheshire were left shocked after discovering that a woman was allegedly keeping her infant child confined to a drawer under her bed in her home for the first three years of her life.
The authorities were alerted to the scene by the woman's partner, who had no idea that the woman had given birth to the baby in 2020, and was keeping her a secret from everyone, including her own mother as well as her other children.
He had apparently heard what sounded like a baby crying in the room back in February 2023, and while he usually wasn't allowed upstairs by himself, he took the opportunity to investigate after the woman left her keys in the door, according to Too Fab.
The drawer where the baby was kept. Credit: CPS
"He had gone back into the house to use the toilet after the defendant had left her keys in the door. She usually didn't allow him upstairs alone," noted prosecutors, who have described that the child was found with "matted hair and [was] clearly malnourished."
He allegedly "ran from the house in shock," before telling other close relatives what he saw before they alerted the police.
During the court case, a social worker recalled the horrifying sight she saw when she responded to the scene.
"Since March 2023 I have thought about [the baby] and this case often," they said. "My initial feelings and thoughts when we entered the mother's bedroom was of disbelief. Her mother walked round the side of the bed and I followed. I was taken aback by what I saw and was extremely shocked to see a baby looking up at me sat in a divan drawer."
They recalled asking the mother to confirm whether or not this was where she kept the baby and she responded: "Yes in the drawer."
The court was told the girl was severely malnourished, to the point she looked like a seven-month-old baby, and had been fed with milky Weetabix through a syringe, per the BBC.
"I was shocked the mother did not show any emotion and appeared blasé about the situation. I asked had anyone else ever seen [the child]? Mom stated no," the social worker added.
"It became an overwhelming horror that I was probably the only other face [the child] had seen apart from her mother's," they added. "Having been a social worker since 2006, I have never experienced such an extreme case of blatant child neglect and cruelty. The mother showed no remorse or emotion which I found extremely difficult to comprehend."
As per a report by Child Protective Services (CPS), medical experts said the child - who was three years old when she was finally found - "could not crawl, walk, talk or make any communicative noises and made repetitive 'self-soothing' movements, such as rocking."
They also claimed she was "significantly malnourished, unkempt, dehydrated, she had an untreated cleft lip and palate, swollen abdomen, significant nappy rash, and poor muscle bulk."
The child has since received treatment and is making good progress, but will need further treatment.
It was reported that the baby girl "also had floppy limbs, swollen feet in an abnormal position, and redness to the outer limbs," they added.
During her sentencing hearing earlier this week, Judge Steven Everett said the woman's actions "totally defied belief."
"You attempted to control this situation as carefully as you could but by sheer chance your terrible secret was discovered," he reportedly said. "I don't remember a case as bad as this in my 46 years," Judge Everett added.
The woman was sentenced to seven years and six months in prison after pleading guilty to the crimes.