A Sydney mother admitted to police that she dumped her newborn baby boy down a drain knowing it would kill him, court papers show.
The case against the 30-year-old woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was heard briefly in Blacktown Local Court on Monday after she was charged overnight with the attempted murder of the boy.
Police will allege the boy was born in the early hours of November 18 and pushed down a stormwater drain near the M7 motorway at Quakers Hill only hours later.
He was found by a father and daughter out cycling on Sunday morning. They had been alerted to an unusual noise coming from the drain.
The boy's mother was arrested at 2pm on Sunday after police doorknocked residents in the area.
Documents before Blacktown Local Court allege that, when interviewed by police, the woman "made full admissions to putting the less than 24 hour old baby down a 2.4 metre drain knowing it may kill the baby".
The woman, who has no criminal history, has been living with her aunt, uncle and cousin in an apartment in Quakers Hill.
She did not appear before the court on Monday and there was no application for bail.
Her family were in court to hear proceedings and, as they left the courthouse, were abused by angry members of the public, who yelled: "You ought to be ashamed."
Documents before the court court revealed police had opposed her bail as they viewed her as a flight risk as her parents and siblings live in Samoa.
Magistrate Tim Keady ordered the woman be medically assessed while in custody.
The matter was adjourned to Penrith Local Court on Friday.
The child was taken to The Children's Hospital at Westmead in a serious but stable condition.
Police said on Monday the baby was in a stable condition.
'Just unbelievable'
Rydalmere resident David Otte said it was "just unbelievable" to find the boy down the 2.5-metre drain along a Quakers Hill bike path next to the M7.
Mr Otte said he had been cycling with his daughter Hayley when, about 7.30am, they were flagged down by two men who had heard an unusual noise coming from a drain about 150 metres from Quakers Road.
"It was so intense. You couldn't not tell it was a baby," Mr Otte said. "We couldn't see it but we could hear it. It was distressed."
It took about seven people to lift the concrete lid off the drain so police could retrieve the boy, who was described by police as malnourished and dehydrated.
The baby's umbilical cord had been cut and clamped. He was wrapped in what appeared to be a striped hospital-issue blanket.
"We were going to get that lid off no matter what it took," Mr Otte said.
"Physically, no one could have fitted themselves down into that drain. A child maybe but not an adult, no way in the world."
"You go through life seeing things but you never, ever imagine you'll see something like this," Mr Otte said.
He said the baby had plastic around his body.
"It had a lot of cushioning and I think that saved the baby" he said.
"That baby had no chance if we and the other people hadn't been there. Something made us find that baby today."
Inspector David Lagats, from Quakers Hill police, said there would have been grave fears for the child's welfare if he had remained undiscovered for much longer.
The mercury soared above 45 degrees in parts of western Sydney as Sunday wore on.
"It's a horrific incident, but with all the teamwork from the bystanders, too, it was a good result and hopefully the child will survive," Inspector Lagats said.
Such cases 'rare'
Department of Family and Community Services western Sydney district director Lisa Charet said such incidents were rare.
Mothers who did not know where to turn for help had been factors in previous cases, she said.
Andrew McCallum, from the Association of Children's Welfare Agencies, urged people to withhold judgment until the circumstances surrounding the incident were clear.
"And even then there's usually a lot of other factors involved in these things," Mr McCallum said.
Police said investigations were ongoing.
