Mother of dead baby to face charge tomorrow

Police said the child could have died as recently as three or four months ago, or as long as 18 months to two years ago. Photo / Simon Baker

A woman will appear in the Christchurch District Court tomorrow facing a charge of failing to report the death of a baby.

Police today located the mother of the baby who was found dead at a Christchurch boarding house yesterday.

They now believe the baby to have been born around the middle of last year.

The baby was found in a shed at the rear of the boarding house, while the property was being cleared out.

The property is divided into 14 rooms and houses for long-term tenants and some international students.

Police earlier thought the baby may have been born up to two years ago.

Detective Inspector Tom Fitzgerald said today a post-mortem examination had been carried out but he could not reveal the sex or ethnicity of the baby.

"It's possible that the baby has been dead for some time. Not possible that it was at that address for that amount of time."

Asked if there was a deliberate attempt to hide the body in the shed, Mr Fitzgerald said "no, I don't know if you would call it a deliberate effort to hide it but it certainly had been left."

Neighbours had suggested the body was found in a washing basket but Mr Fitzgerald said "I don't want to go into that at this stage".

Asked if the mother of the child could have been a visitor to the property, or staying there for a short time, Mr Fitzgerald said "anything's possible".

The existing tenants were being spoken to and were being cooperative and past tenants were also being traced by police.

Police would remain working at the property for the next three to four days, he said.

Earlier Mr Fitzgerald appealed for help from the public to find the mother of the baby.

"Family, friends, a care giver, midwife or GP may have the information we need."

The house's residents were sent to motels.

Neighbours said there were regular noise issues with the house and there were problems the previous evening.

Police talked to the boarders as they returned home yesterday, advising them that they would have to stay elsewhere while a forensic examination was carried out.

The baby's body was removed from the property in the afternoon.

One of the neighbours to the property, Lynne Grafton, said she first noticed police there about 10.30am.

She said her daughter saw what she thought was blood on jeans or other material at the house.

The property was a bedsit where people would often come and go, Ms Grafton said.

There were often arguments there at the weekends.

"But you get used to it."

She said the thought of such an incident happening so close to her home was scary.

- With NZPA