THE jury in the trial of a teenager accused of murdering her new born baby four years ago has retired to consider its verdict, after being told it can consider an alternative count of infanticide.

Paris Mayo, now 19, gave birth “suddenly and unexpectedly” in the living room of her family’s Springfield Avenue home in Ross-on-Wye in March 2019, Worcester Crown Court has been told.

Former John Kyrle pupil Mayo, who later attended Monmouth Comprehensive and now lives in Ruardean, was 15 at the time of the birth.

Her father was upstairs having dialysis supervised by her mother at the time, and died 10 days later, the five-week-long trial has heard.

Mayo denies killing the baby, posthumously named Stanley, whose body was found in a bin bag on the doorstep next morning by her mother and older brother.

The prosecution say she deliberately caused injuries to his skull and suffocated him by stuffing cotton wool into his mouth and throat.

She has told the court she didn’t know she was pregnant, and family members have also said they were unaware of her condition.

Mayo said the baby landed on a hard floor when she gave birth and she had used cotton wool to clear up mess coming for his mouth.

Trial judge Mr Justice Garnham told the jury before it retired yesterday (Wednesday, June 21): “In the event that you believe that Miss Mayo did cause the death of Stanley Mayo, you will be asked to consider if she did so whilst the balance of her mind was disturbed by reason of her not having fully recovered from the effect of giving birth."

Infanticide is causing the death of a baby when the balance of a mother’s mind is disturbed due to the effect of giving birth.

The judge told jurors: "I am sorry this has been hard to listen to, it has been hard work to read it out as well."

He urged them to "be fair and listen to one another" before they retired.

"Do not rush into a verdict, the people involved in this case deserve your complete attention,” he added.