Baby's death was accident, says mother

A London mother accused of killing her newborn baby in a hotel room in Crete has told police it was an accident.

Leah Andrew, 20, was questioned today over the death of the child. She could be charged with murder or infanticide.

Miss Andrew is accused of smothering the baby after giving birth at the Natali hotel in Malia on Sunday. She is now in hospital in Iraklion, the island's capital, and is said to be on suicide watch.

According to police sources, she said a doctor in London assured her she was six months' pregnant and could go on holiday, not eight-and-a-half months' pregnant as determined by a Greek coroner.

"I was alone in the room when I began losing the baby," she is reported to have said. "I thought it was premature and could not survive. I put the baby in a sheet and a blanket then called for help, because I was losing a lot of blood. That's how I was helped to get to hospital.

"I may have not done everything I should have because I panicked. I certainly did not deliberately kill my baby."

Prosecutors must decide on charges by the end of the week. Miss Andrew, a student from Hither Green with two sons, was arrested on Monday after the 5lb 8oz baby was found wrapped in a towel.

A coroner indicated the baby died of asphyxiation. Miss Andrew was said today to be depressed, distressed and calling for her baby.