Mum admits killing hours-old baby with cling film before dumping body in Tesco carrier bag

A mum has admitted killing her newborn baby son with cling film just hours after he was born after she was wrongly convicted of his murder.

Ineta Dzinguviene, 38, pleaded guilty to one charge of culpable homicide of her hours-old baby, Paulius Dzingus, after multiple psychiatrists found her to be of diminished responsibility at the time of the child’s death due to her mental state.

The 38-year-old had previously been found guilty of murdering the baby in 2011 but the conviction was overturned on appeal.

Ms Dzinguviene was seven months pregnant with Paulius in February 2010 when she arrived in Scotland to join her husband, who had taken up work as a lorry driver.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard, from a narrative read by prosecutor Alex Prentice KC, that Ms Dzinguviene had attempted to hide the pregnancy, and had “emphatically denied” that she was expecting.

Two months later, Paulius was born in April 2010 but nobody outside of the hospital had seen him alive. The court was told that Paulius was killed that same month and was found wrapped in a Tesco carrier bag in a suitcase behind a roll of carpet in a communal cupboard of the block of flats where Ms Dzinguviene lived with her family in Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire.

She was found guilty of murdering her baby boy in 2011 and was sentenced to serve at least 15 years in prison.

Ms Dzinguviene had previously killed another baby called Paulina, in Lithuania, in 2009, the court heard. She was later extradited to Lithuania in 2012 after tradesmen found the remains of the baby in an attic of the home where she lived.

Her case was then sent back to the High Court after significant new evidence about her mental state when she committed these crimes in 2009 and 2010 was uncovered by psychiatrists.

She was assessed by several mental health professionals while serving her sentence at HMP Cornton Vale and it was subsequently found that she had both post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD), which stemmed from an abusive childhood and marriage.

Psychiatrists assessing the 38-year-old found she could have dissociative episodes as a result of the PTSD and CPTSD, as well as being “in denial” about her pregnancies.

Ms Dzinguviene told professionals of her “deprived” childhood, which was often abusive, and said she was also subjected to emotional, mental and sexual abuse by her husband during her marriage.

The court also heard that she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend in 2003, which resulted in a pregnancy. Psychiatrists believe this is where her PTSD and CPTSD originated from and she compartmentalised this to help her cope with day-to-day life.

Ms Dzinguviene concealed her pregnancies and ultimately killed two of her five children because she did not want them to experience the same life that she had, the court was told.

Mr Prentice said that delayed disclosures are “understandable” as an avoidance technique to avoid reliving traumatic events, before telling judge Lady Poole that some amount of “discount” to the sentence would be appropriate.

In summing up, Lady Poole said: “You killed your baby boy. I accept you had diminished responsibility, but nevertheless, this is a very serious and tragic crime.”

Lady Poole deferred sentencing to 20 June following court social work reports being obtained. Ms Dzinguviene was remanded in custody.