A baby girl found abandoned in a park in east London this winter had the same mother as two siblings who were also left outside in 2017 and 2019, it has emerged.
The latest child, who has been named Elsa by hospital staff, was believed to have been less than an hour old when she was found in a shopping bag, in sub-zero temperatures, at the junction of Greenway and High Street South in East Ham on Jan. 18, 2024.
DNA testing has since proved she is a full sister to two other babies who were also abandoned in east London in 2017 and 2019.
A girl, nominally named Roman, was found in a playground area in Newham on Jan. 31, 2019.
Dog Walker ‘Shocked’ After Finding Baby in 2019
Rima Zvaliauskas, who found Roman while walking her dog, told the BBC in 2019 she was “shocked and stressed” when she found the child after hearing a noise coming from a shopping bag.A boy, nominally known as Harry, was found wrapped in a blanket in Balaam Street, Plaistow, on Sept. 17, 2017. He has also since been adopted and renamed.
On Monday a judge at East London Family Court amended reporting restrictions to allow the link between the siblings to reach the public domain, following an application by the PA news agency and the BBC.
The children’s parents have not been identified and the Metropolitan Police is still investigating all three abandonments.
It is a criminal offence to abandon a child under the age of 2 and the punishment could include a custodial sentence.
But magistrates and judges usually consider a parent’s state of mind and personal circumstances and it is extremely rare for mothers to be jailed in such cases.
Deciding to lift reporting restrictions, Judge Carol Atkinson, sitting in the Family Court, said: “There is a clear public interest in reporting this story. The abandonment of a baby in this country is a very, very unusual event and there are years where there are no children abandoned, and because of that it is the story of the abandoning of a child that is of public interest.”
“It is for the same reason, in our current society, of enormous interest and importance that people know that there is a mother and father out there who felt the need to relinquish their children in this way, three times, and that is of considerable interest, it seems to me,” she added.
Judge Favours ‘Openness of Justice’
Judge Atkinson said, “If I restrict these rights and the reporting of that story, I think that does impact on public consciousness of these sorts of matters. It restricts the openness of justice.”Last year the government began to allow journalists to cover family court proceedings, which had previously been kept secret.
A pilot scheme which began with three courts in 2023 was expanded earlier this year to allow journalists and legal bloggers to report on cases at 16 courts across England and Wales.
But reporting restrictions usually protect the identity of all those involved.
In the case of Elsa and her siblings only certain details, such as the fact the children are black, can be reported.
Kate Claxton, a barrister representing the London Borough of Newham, told an earlier hearing the police investigation means Elsa’s birth cannot be registered, which means no final decision can be made regarding her care.
A further hearing is expected to be held later this year to decide if she can be made available for adoption, like her siblings.
It is not clear if Harry and Roman were adopted by the same family.
Detective Sergeant Laurence Dight, from the Metropolitan Police, told the court on Monday anyone with information about the identity of the children’s mother, or indeed their father, should contact the police using reference CAD 6876/18 Jan.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Detective Inspector Jamie Humm said, “We have worked 24/7 in each of these three cases to identify the parents, so far without success.”
“We have also had to be mindful of the sensitivities that exist now all of the children are being cared for. Their welfare, including their privacy, is paramount. We continue to investigate, and will consider the next steps in our investigation,” he added.
