In England, a married woman abandoned her baby after giving birth at home. 36-year-old Leigh-Anne Varley left a note with her child that said, “Please take care of my baby boy and please don’t go public as my husband is violent and he’ll kill me.” Thankfully, the baby was discovered and brought to a hospital where he was found to be healthy. Varley left her baby because she was concerned her husband would hurt her since her pregnancy was a result of an affair.
The Daily Mail reports that Varley escaped prison time and was only given a 14-week suspended sentence after pleading guilty to child neglect. The Peterlee Magistrate’s Court found that she suffered from mental illness and originally told the court that the baby was not hers. Apparently, Varley also lied to her husband when he asked if she was pregnant and told him she had ovarian cysts. However, after she admitted to the crime she told the court that she intended to drop her newborn off at a nearby hospital.
Chair of the Bench Mark O’Neil said, “First can I say that we are not sending you to prison today. I am sentencing a suspended sentence order for 14 weeks with conditions that you do not commit any offences for 12 months. The reasons for this is that you are obviously remorseful and there are mental health issues. If you do commit another offence in that 12 months the suspended sentence will be activated.”
The prosecutor involved in the case, Sarah Traynor, added, “The fact is that this is a sad case. A member of the public reported finding a baby boy wrapped in blankets at a block of flats with a note saying: ‘Please take care of my baby boy and please don’t go public as my husband is violent and he’ll kill me.’ Her husband and daughter returned home and they booked their flights to Florida. The next morning at around 6.25am she was glad to see that an ambulance had arrived where she had left the baby.”
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Varley’s attorney, Sheila Ramshaw, argued that her client shouldn’t be separated from her six-year-old son. She said, “What we know is that this lady has clearly suffered a lot in these last several months. And withstanding all of that she is before you today. She feels this situation has been overbearing for her. She is a lady of good character. The pressure of this has led to some mental health issues but Miss Varley is now receiving some care. This lady has an impeccable character. This lady has a family unit and she cares very much for them. To separate them would certainly not do anyone any good.”
Unfortunately, approximately fifty babies are abandoned by their parents in the United Kingdom every year, which is why in 2013 campaigners called for “baby hatches” to be placed in hospitals and medical units across the UK. Baby hatches are heated units where a mother can safely and secretly place her baby. Alley Lofthouse, the founder of a campaign called A Foundling, explained that these hatches should be made legal because people who abandon their children sometimes have a real and desperate need to surrender their baby into safe hands. Currently, there are about 100 hatches located in Germany, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Hungary and Italy.
