News & Cases
News & Cases
Every case is a pathway that failed.
The United Kingdom has no Safe Haven law — no lawful, confidential way for a parent in crisis to hand a baby to safety. This page records the cases that reached the courts and the newspapers, told with dignity: only the names courts and hospital staff made public, only the facts that matter, and always a way to help.
September 2017 · January 2019 · January 2024
Newham, east London
Harry, Roman & Elsa — the East London siblings
Three newborns — a boy in 2017, a girl in 2019, and a girl found on the coldest night of that winter in 2024 — were each left where someone would find them quickly, and each was cared for. In June 2024 a family court confirmed that all three are full siblings; the names hospital staff gave them have since been changed to protect them. Their parents have never been identified, despite an extraordinary multi-year investigation, and detectives have said throughout that their priority was the mother’s welfare.
Status. Resolved as to the children’s care — in January 2026 a court ruled that Elsa should be adopted by her foster family, with the three siblings kept in contact as they grow up. The parents’ identity, and the mother’s circumstances, remain unknown; police say enquiries are exhausted.
BBC News · 8 January 2026
Told with dignity.
UK cases, 2017–2026
Every name below was given by hospital staff or assigned by a court; where a family court has ordered it, names have since been changed. We report headline facts only, and where a case remains publicly unresolved we say so.
25 January 2020
Hackney, east London
Baby Edward
A newborn boy, about twelve hours old, was found on a doorstep by a postman, after whom hospital staff named him Edward; he was reported healthy and well cared for. The detective leading the case appealed directly to his mother: “You are my primary concern… please be assured that you are not in trouble.” Police publicly promise help and confidentiality because the law itself offers neither.
Status. Unresolved in published sources — no confirmed outcome was publicly reported.
BBC News · 27 January 2020
A newborn girl
A newborn girl was found in a bus shelter in Towyn one July morning and taken to hospital, where she received care. North Wales Police appealed directly to her mother, saying they were concerned for her health and wanted to ensure she received medical support.
Status. Unresolved in published sources — no verified national follow-up was found.
The Independent (Press Association) · 11 July 2017
22 April 2021
Kings Norton, Birmingham
Baby George
A newborn boy, believed to be only hours old, was found in a Birmingham park and cared for; hospital staff named him George. After an eight-month search and around a thousand lines of inquiry, police traced his mother and took no further action, saying their priority had been her safety and support, and that George was doing really well. A humane outcome here rested on the compassion and discretion of investigators — the law itself offered no pathway.
Status. Resolved — mother traced in December 2021; no further action taken.
BBC News · 13 December 2021
Read gently
Two recorded cases involve the death of a new-born. We include them only at headline level, in the courts’ own words, because they show what the absence of a lawful pathway can cost.
A case that ended in tragedy
March 2020 · Hythe, Hampshire
Baby Maliki
A newborn boy was found in woodland near Hythe in March 2020; he had died shortly after birth. His mother — a woman who had sought to end the pregnancy, then concealed it while facing the loss of her family’s right to remain in the UK — was convicted of murder. Sentencing her, Mr Justice Garnham described “a vulnerable woman” suffering “acute stress and anxiety”, and called the abandonment “an act of desperation”.
Status. Concluded at trial, December 2021. Reported here at headline level only, in the court’s own words.
BBC News · 2 December 2021
The data gap
What we cannot count.
No official annual UK statistic on infant abandonment exists — official sources are described in the academic literature as conflicting because of incomplete data gathering. What follows is the best available evidence, with every estimate flagged as one.
A concealed-birth case — not a foundling case
2023–2025 · England
Baby Victoria
Constance Marten and Mark Gordon, whose four older children had been taken into care, concealed Marten’s pregnancy and went off-grid; their daughter Victoria, born in secret, died in winter conditions. In July 2025 both were convicted of gross negligence manslaughter and each was later sentenced to fourteen years. The case is included here only because it shows, at its most extreme, what happens when parents in crisis see no safe, lawful route to care.
Status. Concluded at trial, September 2025; an application for leave to appeal was reported in August 2025.
The Guardian · 15 July 2025
If any of this feels close to home. If you are pregnant, frightened, or worried about someone who may be, there are people who will listen without judgement: BABY-I on0300 102 4276, Samaritans on116 123. In an emergency or immediate danger, call999.