Mother in court for killing three babies, hiding their bodies

A 31-year-old woman from Alkmaar should be jailed for four years and placed on probation for 10 years for killing three of her babies, the public prosecution department said on Thursday.

Yasmine M, who is currently on trial in Alkmaar, has been charged with the manslaughter of the three girls and hiding their bodies in Alkmaar and Heerhugowaard, news agency ANP said.

One of the bodies was found by a sniffer dog hidden in the attic of a house in Heerhugowaard last October. A second was found in a shed. The third body had been found earlier in a park in Alkmaar.

Two were in such a severe state of decomposition that no cause of death could be established, or if they were still-born, the court was told. One of the babies is likely to have been premature.

Bath

During Thursday’s court hearing M told the court she could not remember anything about being pregnant or the deaths of the babies.

According to the Telegraaf, she told the court that she remembered one baby, named in court as Skye, as being with her for three days before discovering she had died face down in the bath. ‘I think I must have done it,’ M is quoted as saying.

The two other babies, named as Angelina and Caithlyn, may have been born while M was sitting on the toilet and left to drown, the Telegraaf said.

The woman has undergone a psychiatric evaluation and found to be emotionally very vulnerable and of very low intelligence, news agency ANP said. The public prosecution department said she is extremely likely to re-offend, hence its call for her to undergo regular blood testing to check whether or not she is pregnant on her release from jail.

The court will announce its verdict on May 12. M also has two young sons who were taken into care after her arrest.