Dead baby found at recycling centre

A woman gave birth to a baby boy without medical help before dumping his body in a wheelie bin in Lincolnshire, police said yesterday. Detectives are trying to identify the infant's mother after his body was discovered wrapped in a black bin liner on a conveyor belt at a waste recycling plant.

The grim discovery was made by a worker at the Greenstar Recycling Plant in Mill Lane, Addlethorpe, shortly before 11 a.m. on Thursday.

Detectives said the boy, who was two or three days old when he died, was discovered by the male worker as he searched for glass in rubbish brought to the plant for recycling.

Detective Chief Inspector Stuart Gibbon, who is leading the investigation, said: "At this stage we are investigating the death of a baby who was probably no more than two or three days old.

"I think it's fair to say from the post-mortem that the birth was a traumatic birth and also that there was no professional presence when the baby was delivered.

"It's perfectly possible that this woman or girl has given birth without anybody being there or with anybody who knew what they were doing."

The detective said part of the umbilical cord was in the bag with the dead baby boy, who had probably died this week.

Officers are trying to determine where the baby was born and it is thought that the bag containing his body arrived at the waste recycling plant earlier this week.