A teenage mother has been found guilty of murdering her newborn son at her parents’ home in Herefordshire.
Paris Mayo, now aged 19 but who was 15 at the time of the incident, was convicted at Worcester Crown Court over the death of her son Stanley in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, in March 2019.
She cried in the dock after the jurors returned their verdict following more than eight hours of deliberations.
Warning: The following article contains details of a graphic nature
Mayo gave birth to Stanley alone in a living room at her parents’ home, while they were upstairs unaware, the court previously heard.
She stuffed cotton wool balls down her son’s throat then dumped his body in a binbag and left it on the front doorstep, before going to bed.
Her mother found the lifeless infant the following morning after looking inside the blood-stained bag and alerting the police.
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Mayo appeared in court on Friday dressed in a black t-shirt, black and white patterned skirt and white trainers.
The judge, Mr Justice Garnham, remanded Mayo, in custody ahead of her sentence, scheduled for next Monday.
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The jury of five men and seven women delivered a majority guilty verdict on Friday afternoon.
Mayo is said to have covered up both her pregnancy and giving birth – claiming she was unaware she was expecting.
She said he was “born cold, did not make any noise and hit his head on the floor when he was born”, police revealed.
He was born full term and lived for at least two hours, the court heard.
She assaulted the baby, who weighed 7lb 12oz (3.56kg), after delivering him unaided at her parents’ property in Springfield Avenue.
He suffered a fractured skull believed to have been caused by Mayo putting her foot on his head,
A consultant paediatrician concluded Stanley “may have suffered a significant crush injury to his head from opposite sides, for example, beneath her foot”, prosecutor Jonas Hankin QC told jurors.
She then stuffed cotton wool balls into his mouth – with two found lodged deep in his throat, the court heard.
Mayo, of Ruardean in Gloucestershire, was arrested and interviewed twice about the tragedy, first in 2019 and again in 2021.
At the conclusion of the evidence, Mr Justice Garnham apologised to the jury, telling them: “I am sorry this has been hard to listen to, it has been hard work to read it out as well.”
Before sending them out to deliberate on Wednesday, the judge urged them not to “rush into a verdict”, adding: “The people involved in this case deserve your complete attention.”
Speaking outside the court, senior investigating officer, Detective inspector Julie Taylor, said: “The death of a new-born baby is utterly heart-breaking, even more so when the person who is responsible is the baby’s own mother.
“This has been a devastating case for the investigative team to deal with and I would like to thank those involved for their outstanding efforts to ensure justice has been done today.”
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