KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 25 (Bernama) -- A Malaysian student in the United Kingdom (UK), who placed her newborn baby in a cereal box shortly after birth in March this year and concealed the box in a suitcase, has been convicted of murder.
According to a report published in the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) website, Jia Xin Teo, 22, was convicted on Thursday (Oct 24) at Warwick Crown Court on one count of murder.
Teo, a resident of Coventry, arrived in the UK earlier this year to attend Coventry University.
In an attempt to keep her pregnancy hidden, she gave birth on March 4 and then placed her newborn in a cereal box, which she subsequently sealed inside a plastic bag and stored in a suitcase.
Police located the baby two days later, by which time she was already deceased.
Teo denied murdering her baby and said she had been hearing voices which told her to kill the baby.
However the jury rejected that defence and found her guilty of murder. She is scheduled for sentencing on Oct 25 (Friday).
James Leslie Francis of the Crown Prosecution Service said Jia Xin Teo hid her pregnancy from everyone she knew and arrived in the UK knowing that she was likely to give birth here.
“She had opportunities to seek help but instead chose secrecy, even going so far as to lie to those close to her, to healthcare providers, and to police.”
“Baby Teo was alive after birth and could have survived, but Jia Xin Teo made the decision to place her inside a cereal box, knowing that it would kill her,” Francis was quoted in the report.
-- BERNAMA
