Young mother who admitted hiding her two stillborn babies in shoe boxes avoids jail

A young mother who concealed the birth two stillborn babies then got rid of their tiny bodies by hiding one in a shoe box and burying the other in her father's garden, has avoided jail.

Kerry Ardis, 21, concealed the pregnancies from both the natural fathers and delivered the stillborn babies - which she named Poppy and Louis - herself over a three-year period.

The badly-decomposed body of an infant girl was found in her old bedroom at her father's house in 2005 and the body of a boy was found buried earlier this year.

The corpses were discovered by her father Alan at his home in the Keyham area of Plymouth.

Ardis, who works as a beautician,  pleaded guilty to four charges of concealing the birth of two infants and preventing the 'decent burial' of the babies.

She was handed a nine-month suspended sentence by Judge Francis Gilbert, who called the case 'a tragedy'.

He said: 'I'll make it clear that I do not hold you responsible for the death of either baby and on that basis this case is a tragedy for you and your family for which you deserve sympathy and understanding rather than punishment.

'Both times you were young and had to go through the ordeal of having two stillborn babies alone.'

Judge Gilbert said the maximum sentence for the crime would have been two years, but that no guideline cases were available for comparison.

He also placed Ardis under a two-year supervision order.

Tracey Baker, defending, said psychiatric reports on her client revealed she had 'no identifiable mental illness' but was suffering from 'mixed anxiety and depressed mood'.

Speaking after her guilty plea last month, Ardis revealed that she had named the babies Poppy and Louis.

She admitted that she was 'stupid' to hide their remains, but claimed she could not bear the pain of letting her babies go.

Ardis said: 'I am absolutely devastated. I did something stupid. I made a mistake. I just could not let them go, not because I was a criminal or anything sinister.

'The first time I didn't even know I was pregnant - both me or the father didn't know.

'It was a pretty big shock when I started bleeding and there was a baby. Within a few minutes it was all over and I was holding a baby.

'I didn't know': Kerry Ardis pictured with a friend on her Facebook profile

'I am not expecting anybody to understand - you feel so lonely and isolated when you lose a baby.'

Plymouth Crown Court heard how the first body was discovered by  Alan Ardis on August 11, 2005.

Mr Ardis, 52, began to notice a bad smell and had assumed his then teenage daughter had left food to fester in her bedroom.

But he made the grim discovery after tracing the source of the smell to a shoe box that Ardis had hidden in her wardrobe.

She confessed to her father but the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) chose not to press charges.

Tragedy: Ardis concealed the bodies at her father's Plymouth home, above left

But in May 29 this year, the father was working in his garden when he discovered the corpse of a second baby inside a box wrapped in black plastic.

Ardis, of Plymouth, initially claimed that the boy was the twin of her first still-born girl, but tests revealed the baby's death was more recent.

Devon and Cornwall Police launched an investigation and the CPS decided to prosecute on the grounds of public interest.

She was accused of 'endeavouring to conceal the birth of a child of which she had delivered by the secret disposition of the dead body of the said child between July 1, 2005 and November 11, 2005'.

She also faced a similar charge committed between May 4 and June 7 this year and preventing the lawful and decent burial of her babies in 2005 and 2008.

A funeral has now been planned for both babies and their natural fathers are expected to attend.