Mum hid pregnancy from partner then hid baby’s body in bag behind couch, Perth court told
A mother with a history of concealing pregnancies hid her newborn baby’s body behind the couch after giving birth at home, a court has been told.
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A woman concealed a pregnancy then hid the baby’s body in a plastic bag behind the couch after she gave birth at home, a court has been told.
Monique Ellen Burton, 35, will be sentenced in the Perth District Court on Friday charged with interfering with the corpse of her baby after police found the infant in a chest freezer in the backyard of her Geraldton home in August 2022.
She is also charged with 11 counts of fraud for accepting $560 in donations from a GoFundMe page that was set up in good faith by her friend when she lied about dying from a terminal illness.
During a sentencing hearing, state prosecutor Jehna Winter told the court Burton concealed the birth from her partner of 14 years, medical staff and authorities when confronted about her pregnancy.
The court heard Burton told her partner Shaun Bradley Balaam her stomach was bloated from liver cirrhosis when he asked her if she was pregnant.
Ms Winter said Burton went into labour during the evening of August 19, 2022 after she and Balaam had gone to sleep and gave birth to a baby boy on the bathroom floor of her home.
The court was told she wrapped the baby in clothing then placed him in a plastic bag and put him behind a couch, but it was never determined if the baby took its first breath.
She said when Balaam woke the next day he found Burton in the bathroom pale, her stomach was no longer bloated and she had blood on her body.
Burton told him she had been up all night vomiting so he took her to hospital.
When Balaam returned home later that day, he searched for a mobile phone belonging to his mother, who had been at the house looking after their children, and discovered a black plastic bag behind the couch.
He could not see what was inside the bag, but felt a heavy, big, hard lump which he thought could be a baby because Burton had a history of concealing pregnancies.
The court was told Balaam wrapped the bag in another black garbage bag and put it in a freezer without checking if it was a baby.
When Burton was admitted to hospital, doctors noticed she was suffering post-partum symptoms and suspected she had recently given birth, but Burton denied she had been pregnant or given birth.
She was flown to King Edward Memorial Hospital in Perth because of her condition and continued to deny to her partner and medical staff that she had a baby despite medical tests results.
Burton eventually admitted to hospital staff what happened saying, “I don’t know what is wrong with me,” and the baby had been stillborn after a social worker conducted an investigation revealing Burton had a history of concealing pregnancies.
Police attended the Geraldton home on August 25, 2022 and found the baby in a chest freezer on the back veranda.
Mr Winter said Balaam told officers he had no idea what was in the bag and freaked out it could be a baby but did not check in case it was.
He told police he thought the best thing to do was to put the bag in the freezer because that is what would happen at a morgue.
Burton was arrested and interviewed by police in January 2024, when she told officers her memory was hazy and she thought it had been a dream.
Balaam was previously charged with not having a lawful excuse to improperly interfere with a corpse and was sentenced to a 12 month community based order program and supervision requirements.
She pleaded guilty to interfering with a corpse in the Geraldton Magistrates Court in November last year.
Burton’s defence lawyer Anthony Elliot said his client suffered emotional anxiety associated with pregnancies.
He told the court a psychological report found Burton had a history of adjustment disorder, depressive episodes, unresolved grief, no family support, relationship difficulties and anxiety.
She was also plagued with thoughts of worthlessness, hopelessness and personal failure.
Burton will be sentenced in the Perth District Court on Friday.
Originally published as Mum hid pregnancy from partner then hid baby’s body in bag behind couch, Perth court told
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