Mother accused of murdering baby ‘snapped over stressful immigration process’

Silipa Keresi tried to get abortion at 26 weeks but told she was too far along, court hears

Keresi, a mother-of-four, denies two charges of murder and infanticide (Simon Czapp/Solent News)

A 38-year-old woman who is on trial for the murder of her newborn baby is said to have “snapped” over the stress of applying to stay in the UK while also trying to support her family – including her husband who served for the British Army.

Silipa Keresi, originally from Fiji, is accused of wrapping her son Maliki in a towel and dumping him in a woodland close to her home in Hythe, New Forest, Hampshire, on 5 March last year.

The mother-of-four had asked for a termination earlier in the pregnancy but was told at 26 weeks and five days that she had missed the legal limit of 24 weeks, Winchester Crown Court heard.

Kerry Maylin, prosecuting, said that when Ms Keresi found out she was not eligible for the procedure she had left a specialist clinic “visibly uncomfortable” and “upset”.

The court heard how in the subsequent months, Ms Keresi refused to engage with medical services and would not attend various midwifery and antenatal appointments.

Colleagues at her workplace, a New Forest laundry, described her as being “pale, tired and lost in thought” in the weeks before March 2020, jurors were told.

One said she had seen a “baby bump” showing under Ms Keresi’s clothing, which was no longer there after 5 March.

Ms Maylin told the court that soon after Maliki’s body was found, and police launched an appeal to find the mother, a local midwife pointed officers towards Ms Keresi, whose husband Dharma Keresi served as a Commonwealth soldier in the British Army.

She said that after Ms Keresi – who has two children living in the UK and two in Fiji – was located, the defendant said she had “tried to keep things good for her family, but felt under a lot of pressure since her husband left the army”.

“There was also an uncertain immigration status and [Ms Keresi] didn’t know what to do,” Ms Maylin said, “and in order to get leave-to-remain status, she would have to pay a fee which she couldn’t afford.”

The prosecutor went on to say Ms Keresi had been to the council for help “but they wouldn’t assist her without her immigration papers” and that she had “tried to be a good mother for years – but she snapped”.

When initially asked to explain the murder of her son, Ms Keresi allegedly responded: “God understands.”

Tests showed Maliki breathed and excreted following his birth, the court heard, and that he had suffered severe hypothermia before dying within 24 hours – consistent with being abandoned. A post-mortem examination listed the cause of death as “omission of care”.

Ms Maylin said the defendant claimed she remembered giving birth but could not recall where. After her arrest, police examined the hotel room where she was staying at the time and found bloodstained clothing.

Ms Keresi’s husband was kept in the dark about the pregnancy, the court heard.

She was “a mother who knew she was pregnant ... and chose not to engage,” Ms Maylin told jurors.

Ms Keresi denies charges of murder and infanticide. The trial continues.