Suspended sentence for Wildmill mum who hid stillborn babies’ bodies

A mum who hid the remains of her two stillborn babies inside her home has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Egle Žilinskaitė, 31, hid the bodies of two full-term babies inside her home after she delivered them “alone and without medical support”.

The mother-of-five concealed the pregnancies due to a “fundamental distrust of authorities, both in the UK and based on her experiences in Lithuania” where she was born, a judge at Cardiff Crown Court said on Thursday.

Žilinskaitė was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, and was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and a 15-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke, sentencing, told Žilinskaitė: “You made a deliberate decision not to seek assistance from the authorities because you knew the authorities could and would remove your children if necessary.

“While you have committed serious offences, the deaths of your children were not your fault and you have suffered the loss of two children at birth.”

On 26 November 2022, police officers were searching the end-of-terrace property in Maes-Y-Felin, Wildmill, Bridgend, as part of a separate inquiry when they noticed a “foul smell” coming from the upstairs area of the house, the court heard.

Upon investigating, they discovered the first baby concealed in blankets and bin bags in the house’s attic, and the second baby wrapped in bed sheets in an airing cupboard, the judge was told.

Medical examination later revealed the children, referred to as Baby A and Baby B in court, were full-term babies and the biological children of Žilinskaitė and her then partner, Žilvinas Ledovskis, who lived with her.

Due to the severe decomposition of the remains, no cause of death could be ascertained, the court heard.

A pathologist however found it was “not unreasonable” to conclude both babies died at around the time of birth due to the presence of a placenta and an umbilical cord.

The court heard Žilinskaitė gave birth to the first baby in August 2019 at a separate address, then moved the remains to the house in Bridgend where she delivered a second stillborn child in September 2021.

During the sentencing hearing, defence lawyer Matthew Roberts told the judge Žilinskaitė feared she would be blamed for the stillbirths at the time.

He said: “Her emotions were all over the place, she didn’t know what to do.

“She had a difficult relationship with her partner who was an alcoholic and was also emotionally abusive towards her.”

Zilinskaite pleaded guilty to two counts of concealing the birth of a child and two counts of preventing the lawful and decent burial of a dead body at a previous hearing on 10 April 2024.

At the time, her former partner Ledovskis, now 50, of Phoebe Road in Swansea, pleaded not guilty to the same charges.

He was however found not guilty on all counts in May this year after the prosecution said it would be presenting no evidence against him.

A funeral also took place in May this year during which the babies were buried, the court was told.