Woman admits hiding baby's decomposing body

File photo / NZH

A Wellington woman has admitted hiding her dead baby's decomposing body in a cupboard last year before it was discovered months later by her flatmates.

The woman, 21, appeared visibly upset in Wellington District Court today when she appeared on a charge of disposing of a child's body with intent to conceal the fact of its birth.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Michelle Payne said the woman had given birth to a "purple-blue baby" boy in the shower last year.

She then cut the umbilical cord with scissors and hid the body in a bathroom cupboard at her Churton Park home.

Some months later her flatmates discovered the body wrapped in towels in a "moderate to advanced state of decomposition".

The woman was scared and wanted to get rid of the baby from her house, Ms Payne said. With her partner at the time - who was not the baby's father - she buried its body in her garden.

Police found the baby after being tipped off, and at her first court appearance the woman was remanded to a Porirua psychiatric facility.

Defence lawyer Philippa Sullivan said she would be applying for a discharge without conviction.

The woman's name suppression continues and Judge Denys Barry remanded her on bail to be sentenced on March 2.

- NZPA