Woman arrested after newborn baby found dead in Yeovil waste centre

A woman has been arrested after a newborn girl was found dead at a waste centre in Yeovil.

The grim discovery was made by a member of staff at the facility in Lufton Trading Estate on Artillery Road on Wednesday (12 April). Police were called to the scene and two people were later taken into custody.

A woman in her 20s was arrested on suspicion of concealing a birth on Wednesday, while a man in his 30s was arrested on Thursday (13 April) for the same offence. The two have since been released under investigation.

Detective Inspector Ben Lavender said: “This is a very sad and distressing incident. We don’t yet know what has happened and are treating the baby’s death as unexplained at this time, pending the results of a post-mortem examination.

“In the meantime, it was necessary to arrest a woman, and later a man, in order to interview them under caution and with the appropriate legal safeguards. Medical support was put in place while the woman was in custody.

“Our enquiries continue pending the results of the post-mortem examination which we don’t expect to have for some time so further updates are unlikely at this stage. I would urge people not to speculate on the circumstances of this tragic event.”