Mother Flushes Baby Down Toilet Claiming She Did Not Know She Was In Labour

Was it a cover up of a unplanned pregnancy with a work lover or was it a tragic accident? The inquest this week has heard the tearful story of how a perfectly healthy mother flushed her baby down the toilet, not knowing she was even in labour

She found herself in a situation she did not want, yet the 32 year old Claire Jones, desperately and quite successfully covered up the pregnancy which was the result of a passionate affair with a work colleague. Family and close friends were the very ones, she kept all in secret from her growing concern. It has been described by the mother of the dead baby as a tragic accident, yet the frightened new mother found herself in a complete panic after going to the toilet at her partner's parents house in Wales, and finding she had flushed her baby away, yet she covered up the incident by scooping the body out of the bowl and hiding the corpse in the boot of her car. It was here, that the police uncovered the body of the dead child. The tragedy of the death happened on the 28th of December last year after Ms Jones had been suffering with what she thought was a tummy bug, but realised that it was her baby when she saw a foot in the bowel of the toilet. She said,

"While I was still on the toilet, I flushed it, and I felt something pull. I stood up slightly, and I could see a foot in the bowl of the toilet."

Despite the tears of woe, the Coroner in Cardiff, Mary Hassell described Jones's actions as being "a web of deception." As the inquest continued, the court learned that Ms Jone's had kept the secret of her pregnancy hidden cunningly from her partner of 11 years, David Stoneman as well as he family and friends by telling them that a wheat allergy had formed a hard mass in her stomach. When asked if she thought she had given birth, Ms Jones said, "No." She went on to say that the baby had been covered with toilet tissue. She said,

"I could see the baby's foot, so I pulled the baby out. I sat by the toilet. I put him on my lap. He wasn't crying. I was trying to feel for a pulse and there was nothing."

When asked why she had not immediately called out for help, she replied,

"Because nobody knew I was pregnant. Because he wasn't breathing, I just panicked. I didn't know what to do."

She went on to say that she had tried to give the child heart massage but nothing worked.

"I just kept trying and trying, and it wasn't working. There was nothing I could do. He was blue. I wrapped him in a towel. I don't remember how, but I must have put him in the boot of the car."

Ten days after the death, Ms Jones was arrested when the body of "Daniel" was found in the boot of her car. She was taken away from the home she shares with her partner in Cardiff, Wales. Tests did not confirm when the baby actually died, but if he had survived the birth, he was have instantly drowned. Ms Jones said she had "blocked out" the incident and did not remember that the body was actually in the car, until the police arrested her at her home. In August at her trial, she was given a 48 week suspended sentence and was found guilty of concealing the child's birth. She wept,

"I wish I had done something more, but I just panicked. I miss him every day."

Yet the tragic death of a baby was only the result of a messy year before hand. Ms Jones was said to be leaving her 11 year relationship for the father of the child she was having the affair with, who incidentally knew of the pregnancy. Marcus Bezerra had already bought things for the child he had fathered. Yet when the date of the birth came and went, Ms Jones said she could not leave Mr Stoneman, her long term partner. She said,

"Things had got in such a mess with the two relationships. I didn't want to hurt anybody. I just messed everything up."

Yet Ms Hassell, the Coroner believed that Ms Jones had been deceitful and had known exactly what she was doing at the time of the death of her child. She said,

"It is impossible to know if Daniel would have survived if Ms Jones, who had her mobile telephone with her in the toilet, had called for help. The house was full of people who, I have no doubt, would have rushed to her aid. She did not seek medical attention for herself or for her baby. If Daniel was stillborn, it is not possible to say why he did not survive. If he was born alive, the most likely reason for his death was drowning in the toilet bowl."

Do you think Ms Jones was acting innocently at the tragedy which confronted her or did she plan to get rid of the child as she had secretly wanted to stay with her long term partner instead?