A mother who hid her child from her partner in a drawer for the first three years of her life has been jailed for more than seven years.
The toddler had ‘never known daylight or fresh air’ until she was found crying on the bed by a visitor, Chester Crown Court heard.
The court was told how the mother hid the child in a bed drawer, keeping her secret from both her partner and her other children.
The three-year-old, who had been given the milky Weetabix through a syringe, was so severely malnourished she looked like a seven-month-old baby.
Rachel Worthington from the Crown Prosecution Service told the court the toddler had to ‘fend for herself’ for a long time without food.
She also said the child did not respond to her own name after being discovered in the couch drawer.
She was also found with matted hair, rashes, a split skin tone and other medical problems for which her mother had not sought medical advice or care, the court was told.
The child’s mother previously pleaded guilty to four counts of child abuse.
A toddler was kept in a drawer for the first three years of her life (pictured), Chester Crown Court heard
Her mother had hidden the child from her other siblings and partner since birth, until she was discovered by a visitor (photo: the drawer in which the child was kept)
For the protection of the child, neither the toddler nor her family members can be identified.
The offenses took place from approximately the beginning of 2020 until 2023, when a visitor discovered the child after hearing her crying.
After the baby girl was found, a social worker went to the home and said she was greeted with “overwhelming horror” upon entering.
In her statement, a social worker described how she had asked the mother if she had kept her three-year-old child in the drawer.
The social worker was “shocked” by the mother’s lack of emotion as she answered her question “matter-of-factly” and said, “Yes, in the drawer.”
“It became an overwhelming horror that I was probably the only other face [the girl] other than her mother’s,” she said.
Due to the neglect, the child has serious developmental problems and is in a foster home, the court was told.
The mother told police in an interview that she was unknowingly pregnant and was “very scared” when she gave birth to the child. She later told officers that “the baby was not part of the family.”
She claimed that the child was not in the drawer under the bed all the time and said the drawer was never closed.
During the interview, the mother became emotional as she talked about how well her children, who no longer lived with her, were being cared for.
The three-year-old girl who was given milky Weetabix through a syringe was so severely malnourished she looked like a seven-month-old baby (Picture: Chester Crown Court)
Sentencing the woman, Judge Everett said the mother’s behavior was ‘totally contrary to faith’.
He said the child was “starving.” of every love, every right affection, every right attention, every interaction with others’, as well as a ‘proper diet’ and ‘much needed medical care’.
He continued, describing the ordeal as “catastrophic” for the little girl, adding that she “almost experienced a living death in that room.”
“You have tried to control this situation as carefully as possible, but by pure chance your terrible secret was discovered,”
He added: ‘I can’t remember a case as bad as this in my 46 years.’