Baby

The body of a newly-born child was found wrapped up in a paper parcel near to a woman's home. The woman, who was 21 years old, was tried for infanticide but was acquitted. She said that she thought it was dead and then tied some string around its neck.

The post-mortem stated that the child had probably only lived for a very short time, probably about two minutes. The cause of death was given as strangulation although the doctor said that he didn't think that the child would have lived long in any case.

The woman said that she was taken ill in the night and gave birth to the child. She said, 'I put the string round its neck'.

She said that she thought the child was dead. When the Coroner asked her why she tied the string around its neck she replied, 'No'.

The court heard that the woman had gone out with a boy in July 1934 and an intimacy had taken place. She said that when she told him that she was pregnant the boy had told her that he could not afford to marry her and so she finished with him in January 1935.

She also said in a statement, 'All the time I have not wanted my mother to know about it. I have not told anybody what has happened. The only reason I have done all this is because I did not want my mother to know. She has a big family and has got enough to worry about.'

Its not clear where Scotia Close was but it was probably in the same place as it is today, between Cary Road and Wulfric Road.