15-year-old schoolgirl accused of murdering her newborn son by stuffing cotton wool in his mouth and then putting his lifeless body in a bin bag denies ever knowing she was pregnant
A teenage schoolgirl accused of murdering her newborn son has denied ever knowing she was pregnant, a court heard.
Paris Mayo is accused of inflicting complex skull fractures on baby Stanley Mayo at her parents' home in Springfield Avenue, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire on March 23, 2019.
It is alleged that after inflicting the fractures, possibly caused by her foot on his head, Ms. Mayo then stuffed five pieces of cotton wool into his mouth - two of which were found deep in the throat.
After giving birth in a living room, Ms. Mayo is accused of putting Stanley's body in a bin bag and leaving it on the front doorstep of their home before going upstairs to bed.
Stanley's remains were discovered the following morning by Ms Mayo's mother who had looked inside the bloodstained bag.
Giving evidence for the first time in her trial, the 19-year-old said she never knew she was pregnant.
Worcester Crown Court heard Stanley had been conceived in the summer of 2018 and by the autumn Mayo was suffering from sickness and back and abdominal pain.
Bernard Richmond KC, defending, asked whether at any time before Stanley was born she knew she was pregnant.
'No, I was always scared of the thought I might be. I had never taken a test,' Ms Mayo told the jury.
'I was more suspicious I could have been, rather than actually knowing if I was or not.
'I would just try and make excuses to myself to what I thought was wrong. I was worried I might be as I was putting on weight, but I was trying to put it down to other things.
'I was eating bigger portions of food and eating throughout the day.'
Mr Richmond asked: 'Was there a stage before the birth you said to yourself, 'I am pregnant'?' to which Ms. Mayo replied: 'No.'
Describing her on-and-off sickness in 2018, Mayo told the court: 'I think there were times when I was sick, but it would go back and come away - it was irregular.
'I thought it was a stomach bug that went away, or I had eaten