Herefordshire mum who denied pregnancy found guilty of killing newborn

Paris Mayo gave birth to the baby at the family home in Ross-on-Wye in 2019.

Paris Mayo outside Worcester Crown Court where the verdict has been delivered
Author: James ThomasPublished 23rd Jun 2023
Last updated 23rd Jun 2023

A Herefordshire mum has been found guilty of murdering her newborn baby and putting it in a bag on the doorstep of the family home.

Prosecutors claimed said Paris Mayo inflicted complex skull fractures on baby Stanley Mayo, possibly caused by her foot on his head, at her parents' home in Springfield Road, Ross-on-Wye, on March 23rd 2019.

They claimed Mayo, now 19, gave birth in a living room before putting Stanley's body in a bin bag and leaving it on the front doorstep before going to bed, with her mother finding the child the next morning when she looked inside the bloodstained bag.

Worcester Crown Court previously heard Mayo, who was 15 when she gave birth, deny deliberately causing Stanley's skull fractures.

When asked why Stanley had balls of cotton wool in his mouth, Mayo told the court there was "stuff coming out of his mouth" and she was trying to clean it up.

The teenager, of Ruardean, Gloucestershire, had also denied ever knowing she was pregnant and said she believed Stanley was not alive when he was born.

After retiring on Wednesday afternoon to consider their verdict, the jury returned after 8 hours of deliberation.

A majority found her guilty of murder and she'll be sentenced on Monday, 26 June.

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