Sentence for mum who hid baby in drawer upheld

The prison sentence given to a mother who kept her baby daughter hidden in a drawer for the first three years of her life was not “unduly lenient”, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

The girl, from Cheshire, was found weeks before her third birthday, malnourished and unable to crawl, talk or walk.

Her mother, who cannot be named to protect the identity of her children, was jailed at Chester Crown Court in November for seven years and six months for “extreme neglect” in November.

Three senior judges dismissed the bid by the lawyers for the Solicitor General to refer the sentence to the Court of Appeal to be increased.

Following a hearing in London, the judges also threw out a separate appeal bid by the woman, whose barristers claimed her sentence was too long and should be reduced.

Lord Justice William Davis, sitting with Mr Justice Griffiths and Judge Simon Drew KC, said the case involved “very extraordinary neglect” but added the judges did not consider the original sentence was “unreasonable”.

He said the judge “took relevant matters into consideration in a comprehensive and careful sentencing exercise, which resulted in a just and proportionate sentence”.