Life imprisonment for Malaysian who stuffed baby in cereal box in UK

A Malaysian woman was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 17 years in the United Kingdom on Friday (Oct 25) for the murder of her newborn child in March.

According to the Crown Prosecution Service, Teo Jia Xin, who had arrived in the country earlier this year to study at Coventry University, placed the baby in a cereal box shortly after giving birth, then put the box in a resealable plastic bag within a suitcase.

James Leslie Francis of the Crown Prosecution Service said that Teo hid her pregnancy from everyone she knew and arrived in the UK knowing that she was likely to give birth here.

"She had opportunity to seek help but instead chose to carry her pregnancy in secret and give birth alone. After she gave birth, she still did not tell anybody and refused to go to the hospital to get checked," he added.

Teo then lied to friends who cared about her, to doctors at the hospital and to the police so that no one found her baby.

"She did not tell the police where she hid her baby until two days had passed by which time the baby would certainly be dead," said Francis.

He added that the baby was delivered alive and could have survived but the 22-year-old "made the decision to place her inside a cereal box knowing that it would kill her".

Baby was 'alive and well'

During sentencing at Warwick Crown Court, Justice Amanda Tipples stated that Teo had gone into labour on the night of March 3 but had lied to her friends, claiming she was unwell due to a heavy period.

Teo then gave birth the next morning in her dorm bathroom, sometime before 11.30am. 

Justice Tipples acknowledged that the birth was "not straightforward, but was complicated by significant blood loss" and that Teo had a history of depression and had suffered "an acute stress reaction" to giving birth.

"Your baby was alive and well — a full-term healthy baby. But you did not want her. You cut the umbilical cord with a pair of scissors and the baby was alone with you in the bathroom, and she was soon crying," she said.

Teo's friends, who were unaware that she had given birth, were concerned about her health and contacted university staff, who called an ambulance. Justice Tipples noted that paramedics arrived at 3.45pm but Teo said that she did not want to go to the hospital, and they left after 4pm.

"Once the ambulance crew had left you murdered your child," Justice Tipples added.

"You put her in a cornflakes box, which you then put in a sealable plastic bag, which you completely sealed up. You then put that bag into your suitcase, which you zipped up.  

"You knew that, by sealing that plastic bag, your baby would certainly die and you thought that, by hiding her body in a cereal packet in your luggage, no one would ever find her body...I am sure that your baby was alive for over four hours before you killed her."

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Justice Tipples stated that there were two aggravating factors to her sentencing.

First, Teo was the baby’s mother, in a position of trust over her, with sole responsibly for caring and protecting her.

"She was a newborn baby and particularly vulnerable. Taken together, this is a powerful aggravating factor," said Justice Tipples.

Secondly, she believed there was a "significant degree of premeditation or planning".

"I am sure that many weeks before your baby was born you had decided you were going to get rid of her and it was to your advantage that, once you arrived in England, none of the other students at Coventry knew you or had met you before," she added.

"The premeditation included the concealment of the baby’s body in a suitcase and is the reason why, when you were so unwell after the birth, you consistently lied about the cause of your ill-health to all those who tried to help you and sent them away."

Considering mitigating factors, Teo, the youngest of four children, was sentenced to a minimum of 17 years with a deduction of the 230 days she had already spent in custody.

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drimac@asiaone.com