Mother jailed over eight newborns' deaths

A German woman was sentenced to 15 years in prison yesterday after a court found her guilty of manslaughter in the deaths of her eight newborn babies, some of whom were buried in flowerpots.

Prosecutors had accused Sabine Hilschinz, a 40-year-old unemployed dental assistant from Germany's formerly communist east, of secretly giving birth and then systematically murdering eight of her babies.

The presiding judge sided with the defence on the specific charge, finding her guilty of the lesser crime of manslaughter because she had allowed them to die through neglect rather than actively murdering them.

"She neglected to care for the children, which was her duty," said Judge Matthias Fuchs, adding that there was no doubt the children were born alive.

Judge Fuchs said the reason she allowed the children to die was that she saw them as "a factor that could destroy her marriage".

"She wanted to maintain the picture of an idyllic family," he said.

The court rejected the defence's request for a relatively light three-and-a-half-year jail term for Ms Hilschinz and imposed the maximum sentence of 15 years for the eight deaths, which Judge Fuchs said took place between 1992 and 1998.

A ninth baby had died in 1988 but the death was too long ago for the case to be considered by the court.